Harry Potter and the Black Diamond
by Aislin-Black
Summary: Set after O.o.t.P! Harry's dreams intensify as he dreams about the Dark Lord's quest to find the Black Diamond. But other things are happening at Hogwarts. A new transfer student from the U.S. has a revolutionary secret that will change everything.
1. Back to Privet Drive

*Privet Drive*  
  
Harry Potter sat on his bed gazing at the picture book that sat on his lap. The young boy, really a young man now turned the page of the book and gazed longingly at the picture before him. He was looking at the picture of his parents' wedding day. He saw his father, James Potter beaming up at him and offering a wave. Harry smiled back at him recognizing once again the uncanny similarities he shared with his father. He was rather tall and lanky, like his father was back in his school days. He had inherited the same unruly black hair and a pair of black glasses framed his eyes. The only thing that Harry seemed to have had inherited from his mother were her penetrating emerald green eyes. She gave him a beaming smile and Harry fought the urge to let a single tear escape from his left eye.  
  
"Oh for heaven's sake pull yourself together Harry! You're almost sixteen!" he scolded himself. He glanced at his watch another light smile twitching his face. He would be sixteen in under a half an hour. He grinned with excitement at the thought. He would be one year away from being able to perform magic legally seeing as wizards and witches reached their adulthood at the age of seventeen.  
  
Harry looked back at his photo album that used to belong to his mother and father and gazed at the young man standing a little to the side of his dead parents. It had been a little over a month since he had watched Sirius die in front of his eyes and Harry never had the chance to escape it. Even though Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had told Harry over and over again that he was not responsible for his godfather's death, Harry couldn't feel a slight twinge of guilt. Harry was having an extreme lack of sleep the last couple of weeks. Every time he closed his eyes, he pictured Sirius, falling into the veil that would keep him forever. Trying not to think about it, he looked at the picture of his parents' wedding again and saw Sirius laughing brightly.  
  
Harry didn't know how long he sat there, looking at that picture by flashlight but when his clock struck midnight and the large grandfather clock in the front hallway of Number 4 Privet Drive struck twelve times to signal the thirty-first of July he knew he had been staring at the picture for long enough.  
  
"He's never coming back Harry. Just forget about it." Harry tried to tell himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he still pictured Sirius ready to greet him in front of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the home of the Black family and the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.  
  
Harry threw the photo album down on the floor and was ready to drift off into yet another uneasy sleep when a sharp pecking came from his window. Putting on his glasses, Harry walked over to the window and opened it up, allowing a small tawny owl, a snow owl and a large barn owl admittance into his bedroom.  
  
Harry instantly recognized the snow owl as his own, Hedwig, who dropped a package on Harry's bed and held out her leg for Harry to pull off a note. With a contented hoot, Hedwig flew off to her cage and drank the water that Harry had put out for her that morning.  
  
Harry looked at the small owl who was hopping around on Harry's dresser causing a racket. Harry could hear his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in the room next door, his uncle grunting in discomfort. "Pig would you just shut up? You're going to get me into trouble!" Harry hissed as he untied the letter from Pigwidgeon's leg and the annoying little owl zoomed into Hedwig's cage, eager to have a bit of water as well. Harry then turned to the large barn owl who gave a sort of dignified hoot before he delivered two letters to Harry. The owl ruffled his feathers and then took off threw Harry's open window and off into the night sky.  
  
Harry turned towards the package that Hedwig had dropped off first. He opened up the package and saw that it was a new edition of Which Broomstick? One of Harry's favorite books. He then opened up the letter that came with the package and read it silently to himself.  
  
Dear Harry,  
I do trust that everything is alright with you? How are you holding up? I thought you might like this new edition of Which Broomstick seeing as the one you own know is five years out of date. I was seriously debating on whether or not to buy you Hogwarts a History so I wouldn't have to constantly remind you and Ron that you can't Apparate or Disapparate on school grounds but seeing as it is over one thousand pages long I figured you would soon lose interest.  
  
I've been spending the holidays at the Burrow with Ron and his family and I reckon you'll be expecting an invitation any day now. Hopefully your aunt and uncle will let you go. It's been such a long time since we've seen each other Harry and I do hope you're taking care of yourself.  
  
Can't wait to see you at the Burrow! Happy sixteenth birthday Harry!  
  
With Love,  
Hermione.  
  
Harry smiled at Hermione's letter. Leave it to her to give Harry a book for his birthday although he was slightly put off by the fact that Hermione had been spending her whole summer with the Weaslys, Harry's favorite wizard family. He was also a bit irked at how many times she had asked him if he was doing alright, even if she did ask subtly. He knew she was asking about his condition after Sirius' death. And quite frankly Harry didn't want anybody's sympathy.  
  
Shrugging to himself he picked up the package that had probably, without a doubt was sent from Ron. He opened up the package and a whole bunch of practical jokes had fallen out of the package followed by a small note.  
  
Harry,  
Hope you like all the stuff I sent you! I nicked it from George and Fred's joke shop in Diagon Alley! Just be careful with the Gorgatuous Sweets as they tend to make you swell up like a balloon and take up a whole room until someone pops you! -Ron  
  
Harry let out a little laugh. So, Ron's two older twin brothers, Fred and George Weasly had pursued their dream and opened up a joke shop in Diagon Alley. The twins wouldn't have even had a joke shop if it hadn't been for Harry who had given his winnings of one thousand galleons from the TriWizard Tournament to the twins at the end of this fourth year. He then picked up Ron's letter and read it intently.  
  
Harry,  
Hope everything is going well with the muggles! Hopefully you can try some of those practical jokes on your cousin! Anyway, you need to come out to the Burrow this summer holiday! Bill and Charlie are here (for you know what) and when they're home we've been playing Quiddich in the afternoon. Even Hermione got up on my Cleansweep! You should have been there it was the greatest thing! Anyway, Dad is coming to pick you up at about three o' clock on the 31st. Just make sure you're in Mrs. Figg's house by then (Dad's already talked to her!).  
Happy Birthday!  
  
Ron  
  
Harry smiled widely as he placed Ron and Hermione's letters on his bedside table. He hurriedly wrote his reply to Ron down on a spare piece of parchment and gave it to Pig, who left hurriedly, happy somebody gave him something to do. Harry heard Hedwig give a hoot of thanks before she settled in for the night.  
  
The sixteen year old wizard quickly packed everything up in his trunk and when he finally settled into bed, he picked up his photo album and placed it next to his glasses and his birthday letters. Hoping that three o' clock in the afternoon would hurry up and get to Privet Drive as soon as possible. 


	2. Harry's Return

Harry awoke five hours later with his Aunt Petunia banging on his bedroom door. "Up!" she screeched loudly her tongue clicking against her abnormal horse teeth, "Get up now boy!"  
  
"Alright Aunt Petunia, I'm up!" Harry yelled back through his door. He could hear his aunt unlocking the multiple locks on Harry's door before she finally swung it open. He was used not to hear birthday wishes from the Dursleys. They had always seemed to conveniently forget that his birthday was around this time of year. Harry quickly changed into one of the sweaters Mrs. Weasly had knitted for him during one of his many Christmases at Hogwarts and a pair of jeans. Harry didn't even bother to try and tame his unruly hair, he knew it drove his Uncle Vernon mad and he felt a bit of chaos was necessary before he left for Ron's home.  
  
Harry grabbed his trunk, followed by Hedwig's cage (Harry had told her before he went downstairs to go to Ron's house) and set it by the door. "And just where do you think you're going with all those ruddy school things?" Uncle Vernon asked in his usual suspicious voice. Harry looked up at his uncle who had very little neck and an extremely bushy mustache.  
  
"I'm going over to a neighbor's house, I'm meeting my friends there and I'm staying with them for the rest of the holiday." Harry explained to his uncle as if it were already decided.  
  
"And how do you expect to get to this neighbor's house? Walk down the street in broad daylight with.with those..things behind you?" Uncle Vernon asked his face turning its usual shade of plum.  
  
"How else would I get there?" Harry asked stupidly. He could tell this was a touchy subject for his uncle. The Dursley family wanted everything in their lives to be ordinary and not full of trouble and scandal and having Harry as a wizard, living in their ordinary house, caused enough trouble and scandal just in their own box house on Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon knew that if Harry were seen in broad daylight with his school trunk and owl cage he wouldn't be that hard to spot. He had made sure that everyone in their neighborhood knew that he went to St. Brutus' Institute for Highly Incurable Cases and he was quick to remind any of his neighbors who thought otherwise.  
  
"Now where is this.uh.neighbor's house?" Uncle Vernon asked uneasily.  
  
"Just off of Wisteria Walk," Harry answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.  
  
"Indeed? Well I don't see why I can't drive you there myself. No use in you causing trouble getting your.er.school things to this neighbor's house."  
  
"Great! Mrs. Figg will be delighted to see you Uncle Vernon!" Harry exclaimed happily before he hurried into the kitchen.  
  
"Mrs-Mr.Mrs. Figg?" Uncle Vernon said stupidly. What Uncle Vernon didn't know and what Harry didn't know until last year was Mrs. Arabella Figg, the crazy old lady with the many cats was a Squib. The Dursleys would leave Harry in Mrs. Figg's care when they took their son and Harry's cousin Dudley out to the zoo or on trips. Mrs. Figg had made Harry sit in the stuffing living room that had a strong odor of cats, forcing him to look at all the cats she had ever known.  
  
"Why do you look so happy?" Dudley asked Harry angrily as Harry grabbed a piece of toast and some eggs, sitting down at the dinner table.  
  
"I'm ecstatic not happy! I'm leaving this place until next summer and I couldn't be more excited!" Harry said sarcastically as Dudley made a very rude gesture in Harry's direction. Harry rolled his eyes, counting down the minutes until Uncle Vernon shoved him in his brand new company car to take him down the street to Wisteria Walk.  
  
In fact, Harry didn't even have time to finish his breakfast before Uncle Vernon shoved him in his car along with his school trunk and Hedwig's empty cage and took him to Mrs. Figg's house.  
  
"Get out." Uncle Vernon said shortly throwing the passenger door open for Harry.  
  
"Thanks, I'll miss you too," Harry snapped as he grabbed his school things and shut the door. Uncle Vernon sped away, leaving Harry in front of Mrs. Figg's old, creaky house on Wisteria Walk.  
  
Harry lugged his school things up the steps and knocked very loudly on the door, not knowing if Mrs. Figg's hearing had gone.  
  
"Just a minute, just a minute!" an old batty voice yelled deep within the house, "Harold get off! Mummy will feed you all in a minute one moment!" Harry stood on the front porch for five more minutes before Mrs. Figg opened up the door.  
  
"Oh Harry! I wasn't expecting you until later! Come in! Come in! I just put some cookies in the oven.mind you they're cat nip cookies for my babies, don't think you'd want those much. Here, I'll send a message to the Weaslys that you've already arrived!" Mrs. Figg practically screamed as she grabbed Harry by the collar and pulled him, his trunk, and his cage in violently, slamming the door behind her.  
  
Mrs. Figg hurried forward into the living room, Harry following her in pursuit, his school things in tow. Harry had just enough time to see Mrs. Figg through something into her fire before she shouted, "Molly Weasly, The Burrow!" The green flames flew up and pretty soon, Mrs. Weasly's face filled the fireplace.  
  
"Hello Arabella! Is something wrong with Harry? Will his aunt and uncle not let him come?" Mrs. Weasly asked after she saw Mrs. Figg's face.  
  
"Oh no dear.Harry's actually a few hours early than expected! He's standing right here with all his school things, packed and ready to go!"  
  
"Wonderful! I'll just get off the line and then Harry, you can step into the fireplace and travel to the Burrow by Floo Powder. You remember how that works?" Mrs. Weasly asked her voice high pitched and delighted.  
  
Harry nodded and Mrs. Weasly squealed in delight. "Splendid! Well, hurry up Harry! Ron's absolutely biting at the bit to see you again!" And with that, Mrs. Figg stepped out of the fire and with a 'poof' she was gone. Now all that remained was the empty fireplace.  
  
Mrs. Figg shoved Harry into the fireplace along with his trunk and Hedwig's empty cage. "I do wish you would come a see me more during the summers Harry!" Mrs. Figg requested as she shoved some powder into Harry's spare hand. "Speak clearly!" she squawked as she stepped away from the fireplace.  
  
"The Burrow!" Harry shouted very clearly as he threw the fire down at his feet. He felt a jerking sensation as he felt himself being pulled up through the fireplace. Within minutes he found himself sliding out of the Weasly's fireplace, his trunk and cage falling beside him.  
  
"Harry you're here!" Ron Weasly, Harry's best friend and fellow sixth year at Hogwarts shouted happily as he pulled Harry to his feet.  
  
"Wonderful to see you again Harry!" Hermione Granger, Harry and Ron's other best friend shouted happily as she and Ron started to smack off the soot and dust off of Harry's clothing and face.  
  
"Oh Harry! Harry, Harry dear! I'm so happy to see you!" Mrs. Weasly proclaimed as she rushed forward and hugged Harry tightly.  
  
"Thank you for having me Mrs. Weasly!"  
  
"Think nothing of it! Come on, we'll take your things up to Ron's room!" Mrs. Weasly said happily as she used her wand to make Hedwig's cage and Harry's trunk lighter. She carried them up the long flights of stairs and up to the top of the house where Ron's room was.  
  
"Come outside quick! We were just about to start a game of Quiddich outside! Hermione reckons she'll play too!" Ron explained laughing at Harry's surprised expression. Hermione fly? She had never flown on a broomstick in her life! She didn't even like riding Buckbeak when they saved.  
  
Harry shook off his thoughts and hurried up to Ron's bedroom to grab his beloved Firebolt. 


	3. Chasers and the Trek

3.  
  
Before I forget I would like to point out that if I did own the rights to Harry Potter I would be busy writing the REAL second book! Thanks for your reviews! It's appreciated!  
  
3. Chasers and the Trek  
  
After grabbing his Firebolt and seeing that Mrs. Weasly had all his things safely stored in Ron's room, he and his best friend pounded down the stairs and out the back door, mounting their brooms in the process.  
  
"No flying in the house!" Mrs. Weasly shouted from the kitchen. Harry and Ron shouted their apologies before they flew up to the large meadow that was conveniently located in the Burrow's backyard. There, Harry saw four boys and one girl, all with flaming red hair and idiotic grins on their faces. He flew up to the rest of the Weasly brothers and to their only sister, Ginny.  
  
"Absolutely smashing to see you Harry old chap," Fred said in a grand voice as he bowed low over his broom, causing it to dive quickly, Fred almost losing his balance. Everyone laughed out loud as Fred quickly regained control of his broomstick.  
  
"How come you aren't in Diagon Alley with your shop?" Harry asked as Fred's identical twin George came zooming up.  
  
"Having a bit of a holiday. Business has been absolutely mad, we've nearly sold out of everything.had to buy a small factory to start making all of our products," George explained proudly. Harry's eyes widened in shock. They hadn't even been in business for even a quarter of the year, how could they earn that much money in such a short amount of time?  
  
"That's great to hear! I'll have to check out this store myself when we go to Diagon Alley for more supplies," Harry exclaimed happily. Fred and George beamed at him before they zoomed off laughing loudly.  
  
"Enough of this, can we play please? The sooner I get off this broom the better," a rather nervous voice said behind Harry. He turned around and saw Hermione suspended in mid-air a broom underneath her. He ogled her in shock. He had never seen Hermione willingly get up on a broom, let alone fly it in the air. Harry noticed that she was on one of the twin's old brooms. He instantly looked at the twins' brooms and noticed that they were matching Nimbus two thousand twos.  
  
"Yeah let's get going. Since there are eight of us, there'll be four to a team. One keeper, one beater, one chaser and one seeker," Charlie Weasly explained coming up to join the circle that had formed in mid air. Harry noticed that the second oldest Weasly son had earned a couple more scars and healing burns from his dealing with dragons in Romania. With that said, the teams divided into four groups. Harry, Ron, Fred, and Hermione on one side; Charlie, Bill, George, and Ginny on the other. Harry instantly took his position as seeker, Ron as keeper and Fred as his old position as a beater. Hermione looked around nervously.  
  
"What.what am I supposed to be?" she asked timidly as she saw the other team start flying around for a bit of warm-ups.  
  
"Chaser," Ron said almost lazily as he hovered behind the bewitched bubble wand that was made to be the goal post.  
  
"C-ch-chaser?" Hermione squeaked before Ginny gave her a little wave. Ginny had probably presumed the role of chaser for her team.  
  
"It isn't that hard Hermione. Do something different for a change than reading books," Fred pointed out as Hermione gave a scoff.  
  
Charlie flew up from across Harry and gave him a smile. "I'm guessing we're seekers eh?" Harry gave a small gulp. Here he was, pitted against the Gryffindor House Quiddich Team legend, Charlie Weasly. Harry knew that while Charlie was seeker, the Gryffindor team had never lost a tournament until he left, causing a streak until Harry and the team won the Cup his third year.  
  
"I'm guessing so," Harry said returning his smile. They all watched nervously as Ginny flew down to retrieve the large box of Quiddich balls. She opened up the box and everyone watched as the Golden Snitch flew away, enchanted to stay within the boundaries of the meadow. Ginny then released on Bludger which immediately flew up into the air. Ginny carefully picked up the Quaffle and she let the box drop some twenty feet below to the ground. She and Hermione faced off until Ginny threw the Quaffle up into the air, signaling that the game had begun.  
  
Harry immediately took his Firebolt up to the top of the field his eyes scanning for the snitch. He watched as Hermione hurried after Ginny, the fear registering in her eyes as she came right next to the fifteen year old girl. Keeping one hand on her broomstick, the knuckles turning white, Hermione reached out with one hand and tried to grab the Quaffle, but Ginny threw her hand away rather violently. Hermione recoiled a hurt look registering on her face.  
  
"Come on Hermione! You're not supposed to be POLITE AND RESERVED on the Quiddich field! Next time she does that, KNOCK HER OFF HER RUDDY BROOM!" Ron yelled as Ginny hurried forward with the Quaffle, a determined look on her face. Once Ginny was close enough she let the Quaffle fly, just as George smacked the Bludger with his club, heading straight towards Ron.  
  
"Fred!" Hermione screeched out her hands over her mouth in fear as the violent ball was closing fast on Ron. Fred flew over in front of Ron, smacking the Bludger away from the goal post, smacking the Quaffle in Hermione's direction.  
  
"Catch it quick Hermione!" Fred yelled as Ginny let out an angry yell before she zoomed up after Hermione. Harry watched amazed as Hermione flew as fast as she could, both arms outstretched as she caught the Quaffle and headed straight towards Bill.  
  
Harry took his attention away from the game in hopes of finding the snitch. He turned around and saw Charlie doing the same thing his eyes expertly looking over the pitch trying to find a hint of gold that would reveal the winners of the game.  
  
They played on, only stopping the game to go and have a bit of lunch which Mrs. Weasly had set up in the garden close to the playing pitch. They were nearing their fifth hour of playing before Harry saw Charlie dive straight down a glint of gold reflecting behind the box that the Quiddich balls had come from.  
  
Harry zoomed after him, urging his Firebolt on his all his might. He watched as Charlie neared the snitch before him, his hand outstretched. Harry had neared the end of his broomstick, finally pulling up along side him. They both looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the snitch, realizing that it had gone straight up. Wasting no time, Harry pulled his broom up sharply and headed up as fast as he could. He had finally put Charlie Weasly behind him and his fingers had just grazed the snitch.  
  
"YOU LOT GET INSIDE THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW! GATHER YOUR THINGS WE'RE LEAVING! HURRY UP.HURRY UP!" Mrs. Weasly shouted frantically from the house. Harry pulled out from his upward decent and realized that everyone was watching Mrs. Weasly. Her face was red and blotchy from screaming as loudly as she could before they hurriedly tried to gather the Quiddich balls. "FORGET THE RUDDY BALLS! GET INTO THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW!"  
  
Harry casted a sidelong glance at Ron before he shrugged his shoulders and the eight of them zoomed to the house as quickly as their brooms could carry them. "Get all of your things right now. We're leaving the Burrow," Mrs. Weasly said frantically once all of her children and their friends were inside the house. She slammed the door shut and casted very single locking charm and spell she could muster before she ushered her children upstairs.  
  
"What's gong on?" Fred asked his mother. "We had a smashing game of Quiddich going!" "I can't explain now, just get all your Hogwarts things," she explained to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny. "And get clothes and whatever else you need and get back down here on the double!" Mrs. Weasly bellowed to Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George. With outraged shouts and questions shooting in every direction as the Weasly children, Harry, and Hermione hurried upstairs to gather their school things. Harry met Ron in his room who was quickly shoving all of his spell books and robes into his trunk.  
  
"Wonder what's gotten into her?" Ron questioned as he picked up his owl's cage, the small owl hooting in excitement. "Pig shut up!" Harry quickly grabbed his school trunk and Hedwig's cage. His white owl gave him a sharp look, scolding him for waking her up during her nap.  
  
"Sorry Hedwig but we need to go in a hurry." Harry explained. Hedwig gave a feeble hoot of apology before the two of them headed downstairs, the rest of the group sent up to get their things joining them.  
  
"Mum would you explain what is going on?" Charlie asked in a reasonably comforting tone. Mrs. Weasly shook her head.  
  
"We're traveling by Floo Powder to the Headquarters of you-know-what," Mrs. Weasly whispered to all of them. "Harry, you go first, then Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, and then me. Do you remember the address?" All eight heads nodded simultaneously before Mrs. Weasly gave them a reassuring smile. "Splendid. Harry you first dear."  
  
Harry stepped into the large fireplace with his trunk and Hedwig in tow. He sighed sadly. He didn't want to go back to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, not so soon. He knew if he went back there, all the memories would come flooding back and he wasn't so sure if he wanted to relive them.  
  
"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place!" Harry shouted as he slammed the powder rather violently on the fireplace floor. And for the second time that day, he was on a trek to his godfather's old house, wondering what was so urgent that the entire Weasly family had to arrive as soon as possible. 


	4. First Attack

Just wanted to say thanks to Harmonic Friction for giving me my first ever review! Thanks a lot for your review!  
  
4. The First Attack  
  
Within the span of ten minutes the rest of the Weaslys, along with Hermione, had safely made it through the Floo Powder system. Harry looked around quickly and found themselves in the basement kitchen of the headquarters. With everyone considerably dirtier, Mrs. Weasly sent Charlie and Bill up to the upper floors immediately to stow away school trunks, suitcases, owl cages, and the like in the spare bedrooms.  
  
"Remember to be extremely quiet. I still don't know if they've taken Mrs. Black down from her wall," Mrs. Weasly explained to her two eldest sons. They both nodded and muttered a spell to make the luggage considerably lighter before they walked up the steps and into the front hall.  
  
"Mum.what are we doing here? I don't understand!" Ron exclaimed stepping in front of his mother, not moving until he got an explanation.  
  
"I don't believe I'm the right one to tell you what happened Ron dear. I'll have Moody explain it to you.yes that would be best," said the red haired woman as she sat down tiredly on one of the benches at the table. Ron gave Harry a questioning look before they set off to the sinks, trying to wash off the soot and dirt as best they could.  
  
Harry looked around the kitchen and sighed again. Here he was, standing in Sirius' house. He looked over at the table and remembered when he and Sirius had been sitting there, the twins running in with the cauldron of butterbeer levitated in front of them. Harry smiled at the memory when the cauldron slipped off the table, Harry and Sirius jumping away just in time.  
  
"Harry! Harry, Moody's here!" Hermione said in a rather loud voice right in Harry's ear. He turned around and saw the ex-Auror turned newly re- employed Auror. Alastor Moody, or Mad Eyed Moody as he was more commonly known, had hobbled down the stairs looking at the group before him. Harry could see all the deep scarring that surrounded his face, years from fighting and capturing Dark Wizards. His one leg still had the peg and he still had his magical eye, which was rolling around in every direction. Harry almost laughed when he realized Moody reminded him of some sort of demented pirate.  
  
"What happened Mr. Moody? What happened?" George and Fred asked immediately bounding up to the elder wizard. Despite the seriousness the atmosphere held Moody let out a small chuckle offering all of the Weasly children, Harry, and Hermione a seat.  
  
"The others'll be arriving soon. But I must tell you lot that what is going to be discussed in this room, must. . . stay. . . in this. . . room. Understand me?" Moody said his voice reaching a deadly serious tone that meant he wasn't joking around at all. Seven heads nodded simultaneously and Moody smiled grimly at them.  
  
Within five minutes Charlie and Bill had made it back from the top floors without waking the portrait of Sirius' long dead mother. And soon a few more wizards joined them. There was Nympahdora Tonks or Tonks as she liked to be called. She seemed to have been released from St. Mungo's hospital after her stint in the Ministry of Magic, trying to rescue Harry and his friends from Voldemort and his servants. Kingsley Shacklebolt also joined them along with Elphias Dodge, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Hestia Jones, Author Weasly (Ron's father), and finally Remus Lupin shuffled hurriedly into the kitchen all of them immediately taking seats around the table.  
  
"I'll be starting the meeting," Moody explained as he stood up from his seat. "Seeing as Dumbledore is. . .there." Harry looked at Moody with utmost interest. It seemed as if this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix was extremely important and if Dumbledore wasn't there to head the meeting then it must have been an enormous event to stop him from making it.  
"I know the young one's don't know.being taken away from the Weasly's home but seeing as it isn't safe at this time."  
  
"What do you mean the Burrow isn't safe?" Ron said in a sudden outburst that made Hermione scoff.  
  
"If you would stop interrupting and let me explain Weasly then maybe you'll find your answer." Moody growled his magic eye swiveling around. "I know this will come as a shock to many of you sitting here but, he's finally made a move." The entire room grew quiet, all eyes (non magical of course) on Moody. There was an eerie silence, broken only by the crackling of the fire.  
  
"He. . . you mean. . . Voldemort attacked somebody?" Tonks said incredulously.  
  
"Yes he did. About half past two o' clock today. We had some spare Aurors over there as soon as possible but we were too late. He had gone and left the house in shambles. Was a bit of a nasty shock for the Muggles in the area. Didn't know how the house had blown up for no good reason."  
  
"Do we know who the victim. . . dare I say it. . . victims were?" Lupin asked watching his words carefully.  
  
"I'm afraid its victims Remus. It was a half blood family. Their twin sons had just gotten a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts. Second line of wizards in the family, apart from their mother, she was a witch. Voldemort sent some of his remaining Death Eaters into the place and had them all killed. Entire family dead, all six of them." Someone blew their nose in the background but Harry didn't notice, he was too busy listening to Moody.  
  
"Who was the witch?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked solemnly.  
  
"Delilah Grant." Moody said shortly. There was a short gasp from some of the witches in the room gasped, especially Mrs. Weasly.  
  
"But.but Delilah Grant was the editor of Witch Weekly!" Mrs. Weasly cried out as Tonks pulled out an annoying handkerchief of a sort of acid yellow color. The young witch blew her nose quite loudly. "How could she be dead?"  
  
"And her entire family too.what a tragedy!" Dedalus Diggle squeaked out as he shook his head.  
  
"But why isn't it safe at the Burrow?" Ron asked again and everyone looked at him as if he had completely not heard the conversation. It looked as if Mrs. Weasly was going to start one of her famous rants and Harry could tell Ron was bracing himself when Moody laid a hand on Mrs. Weasly's shoulder.  
  
"The children should know Molly. After all, they were forced away from their home. Maybe permanently until we can get rid of the Dark Lord again,"  
  
"What? We aren't going to be able to go back to the Burrow? But that's our home!" Ginny and Ron yelled loudly. Harry felt like he should stand up and join their argument. The Burrow had been a home to him during the summer holidays and the home had such an atmosphere that would make Aunt Petunia positively faint at the sight of it.  
  
"Ronald, Virginia, close your mouths and let Alastor explain," Mr. Weasly barked before Ron and Ginny took their seats, each had a pinkish tint on their faces.  
  
"We feel, Ginny, Ron," began Moody who nodded to both of them, "that the Burrow isn't safe anymore due to the attack your father suffered at the Ministry of Magic a few months ago. We have a feeling that Voldemort," Ron and some of the younger Weasly children flinched which made Hermione roll her eyes, "knows that you are in league with Harry. If I am not mistaken a certain mole in Voldemort's inner circle overheard one of his fellows talking about the Weasly family and their association with Dumbledore and Harry. That and the fact that half a dozen Death Eaters saw you Ron, and you too Ginny trying to help Harry in the Department of Mysteries just a month ago. This is why we have decided that you will make Number Twelve Grimmauld Place your home until we can finally get rid of Voldemort." Moody finished to the astonished faces of Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Hermione, and not to mention Harry.  
  
Harry was shocked. Because of his ties with Voldemort he had dragged the Weasly family away from their home. It was his entire fault that the Weaslys had to shove off and come to the Black House.and even though it was slightly tidier than it had been since last year, it still wasn't the comfort and disorder that the Burrow had.  
  
"And of course, Hermione," Moody said gruffly and Hermione looked up suddenly a look of fear on her face.  
  
"Yes Mr. Moody?" Hermione asked in a trembling yet dignified voice.  
  
"We have decided that it would be better for your parents to come here where they will be under exceptional protection. They are on their way right now with Percy Weasly. They have told their patients.your parents are muggle dentists are they not?" Moody asked slurring over the word dentist as if it were a foreign word. Hermione nodded, "Your parents have closed their clinic and have told their patients that they would be touring the world for as long as it took. We are taking this as a necessary precaution since you are of muggle decent."  
"Dumbledore also instructed me to inform all of the children attending Hogwarts this year that you are not to leave this home until it is time to go to the train on September the first," Moody explained and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all stared at him mouths open wide. Stay in this musty old house for an entire month? What was there to do besides clean up the house? Harry exchanged looks with Ron. They were going to die of boredom, "I will go to Diagon Alley along with Tonks, Diggle, and Mrs. Weasly to collect your necessary school things. Dumbledore has sent your school supply list to me personally. We will also be accompanying Mr. and Mr. Weasly to their joke shop where they are to stay in Diagon Alley until they are further instructed." Fred and George smiled widely before they bowed their heads, massive grins on their faces. "Now.I will ask that only the members of the order stay behind. I will kindly ask the rest of you to return to your rooms. You'll find that the place has cleaned up quite a bit since you left for school last year." Moody explained. Taking this as an immediate dismissal; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny all walked out of the kitchen but not before Fred and George nicked some food from a cooking cauldron.  
  
The group went to the drawing room which they found was bright and airy a large contrast from the Doxie infested, boggart invaded gloomy place it was before. The group sat on a variety of large squishy arm chairs all of them looking extremely swamped.  
  
"I can't believe we won't go back to the Burrow. And who knows how long You-Know-Who is going to be around! We might be eighty years old by the time we set foot in the Burrow ever again!" Ron complained as he inspected the foot rest at the end of his armchair. He put his hand on the dark red fabric and yelled out loudly as it tried to bite him.  
  
"I can't believe they're confining us to this place for an entire month! What are we going to do? I reckon we'll die of boredom before You- Know-Who even decides to go after us!" Ginny complained.  
  
"You could always read a book.I'm going to start reading our new books as soon as Moody gets back from Diagon Alley," Hermione said as if being confined to a house for one month wasn't that horrendous as long as you had a book by your side.  
  
"All you think about is books Hermione and school! It's almost like we're under house arrest with nothing to do but clean and walk around this boring old house and listen to Mrs. Black scream at us about how we're filthy blood traitors every time someone tries to ring the bloody doorbell! And all you can think about is school!" Ron shouted as he rose from his arm chair the foot rest trying to bite his leg again. "I hate it here!" Ron yelled before he stormed out of the drawing room and headed for the room he was probably sharing with Harry.  
  
"Hermione! Your parents have just arrived!" Tonks called from the front hall.  
  
"FILTHY BLOOD TRAITORS. . . STAINS OF DISHONOR TO THIS HOUSE! YOU FILITHY LITTLE HALF BREEDS RUNNING AROUND RUINING MY HOUSE! GET OUT AND DON'T CONTAMINATE IT ANYMORE!" Mrs. Black's portrait began to scream from downstairs.  
  
"See what I mean?" Ron called from the landing above before it was followed by the slamming of the door. 


	5. Exploration to Disaster

You can imagine my utmost shock when I looked at my story today and found that I had not one.but TEN.ten wonderful and fabulous reviews! Thank you so much to everyone who read it.I would like to thank you all personally though.  
  
Lily Skylo: Thank you so much for the review.as I was writing chapter four the thought came to me that Sirius had also been locked up in the house (I'm not going to explain much here, but I will in the next chapter). Thank you so much again for the smashing review!  
  
Malexandria: I also found it a bit fishy that Hermione's parents weren't included in Book 5.I found it awfully curious but I couldn't help but think that they will in fact have a more prominent role in future books. Especially since Hermione is of muggle decent.  
  
Izziebizz: *falls out of chair in shock and amazement* Me give Rowling a run for her money? That could be one of the biggest compliments someone could ever give me. Seeing as she is my favorite author and I've been reading all the books over and over to get her sense of style and tone she gives out through her characters and settings.wow.just wow. I will be checking out your story though! It sounds extremely interesting!  
  
Q: *as I sit back up in my chair I read your comment and fall back out again* I wouldn't exactly call this something Rowling would pull out of her magic hat.wow.two compliments about me and Rowling.pinch me I'm dreaming  
  
Snivellus: Thank you again for reviewing my story! You truly are talented and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! I am totally engrossed in your story! And thank you for the bulk of my reviews.*as I fall out of my chair yet again with being compared to Ms. Rowling* I seem to be doing that a lot falling out of my chair. But me.be as good as Rowling Holy Golden Snitches that is a compliment! Lol thank you!  
  
You guys are amazing thank you so much for reading my story you do not know how happy it makes me feel that people are actually reading my stories!  
  
Anyway.to the update we merrily go!  
  
5. Exploration to Disaster.  
  
Hermione had hurried downstairs, followed by Ginny as she went to greet her parents whom she hadn't seen in over a month. Harry could hear her excited squeals as she hugged and kissed both her mother and father. Fred and George hurried to their room where they would, no doubt, begin experimenting new products for their popular joke shop.  
  
Harry sat in the drawing room for a few moments, watching the foot rest that had tried to bite Ron circle around the rug before it lay down on the floor. Shaking his head, Harry got up from his abnormally squishy armchair and walked up the room he shared with Ron. He knocked on the door before a slight grunt admitted him entrance.  
  
Ron was sitting on his bed, a copy of Quidditch through the Ages in front of him. Harry sat on the bed across from him and stared at Ron for a moment.  
"You know it's not good to get your knickers twisted up about staying in here for a month." Harry explained as his best friend threw him a look as if something rather nasty was hanging underneath his face.  
"Sirius was locked up in here far longer than a month." Harry explained as Ron put aside his book and looked at Harry a reproachful look on his face.  
  
"But Sirius was used to house arrest. He was locked up in Azkaban for twelve years, what were a couple more months or a year until his name got cleared?" Ron explained rolling his eyes. Harry could feel his temper mounting at Ron. How dare sit there and tell Harry that Sirius could be denied freedom simply because he was used to not having that privilege.  
  
"But Sirius finally had the chance to be free after broke out from prison. His situation is a little bit different than ours. We'll be able to leave here in a month, Sirius got excited if he was allowed out of his house if it were only for an hour. Don't be selfish Ron, besides, there's plenty of stuff to do here. Have you seen how enormous this house is?" Harry explained trying to hold back his temper. He didn't want to have a fight with Ron his first day back to the wizard world, he found having his very best friend mad at him would not improve the situation they were in.  
  
"Yea I guess you're a bit right mate. I was acting a bit daft back there. It's just the Burrow's my only home, besides Hogwarts and leaving there not knowing if I'll be able to go back or if it'll be destroyed, I kind of just snapped." Ron explained with a small smile.  
  
Harry just stared at Ron. He only had one home and that was Hogwarts. It almost certainly wasn't the Dursleys. He would rather spend an entire year in the Black House than go back to the Dursley's home. Sure the Burrow felt like a home to him, but it wasn't the same. Harry didn't really have a home at all. He cleared his throat and then got up from his bed.  
  
"Right then, Hermione's parents just got here, I reckon we'll have to go say hello." Harry explained as he headed towards the door.  
  
"Smashing. Dad will probably attack them with questions about their life, them being Muggles and all," Ron said with a slight wink as they headed downstairs, the portrait of Mrs. Black silent once more.  
  
Sure enough when Harry and Ron arrived in the kitchen, Mr. Weasly had the Grangers cornered into two chairs asking them about their dentist tools.  
"Is it true you use needles and hoses to clean muggle's teeth?" Mr. Weasly asked amazed as Mrs. Granger nodded. "Amazing! And you use elektritiy to make them all work?" Mr. Granger nodded and Mr. Weasly clapped his hands excitedly. "Splendid, splendid! You know I work for the Ministry of Magic in the Improper Use of Muggle Artifacts Department.I've seen it all from biting teacups to toilets that blow up when you flush them!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger were exchanging nervous looks and that's when Mrs. Weasly came to the rescue.  
  
"Hurry up Arthur, I need help with dinner! We have quite the bit of company tonight!" Mrs. Weasly said in a bustling voice as she pushed her husband away from the Grangers who were shooting Mrs. Weasly with looks of appreciation.  
  
The entire group was then sitting down for dinner, all of them enjoying fresh vegetables and a wonderful chicken soufflé that Mrs. Weasly cooked herself. Everyone watched in wonderment as Tonks began to do her routine of changing her appearance. She now had bright yellow hair that strangely reminded Harry of her handkerchief and her nose looked like a large ski jump. Hermione and Ginny laughed and clapped their hands in amusement before Tonks morphed into her original state, short spiky hair, flushed cheeks and a pointed face. Percy, who had personally apologized to his family for criticizing them for joining forces with Dumbledore, was talking to his father, Shaklebolt, Moody, Lupin and Diggle about work at the ministry and how they hoped to brush over the whole Voldemort issue smoothly.  
  
"I think there should be classes at different points around the country to teach witches and wizards self defense. Something's telling me that You-Know-Who is going to stop at nothing to gain more power than he had fifteen years ago," Mad-Eyed Moody explained as he took a sip from his hip flask. Even though he was in a dining room with people he probably trusted with his life, the always jumpy Moody still drank from the leather bottle attached to his hip. Everyone nodded in agreement at this and the conversations continued until Ginny started to fall asleep at her position at the table. Mrs. Weasly sent all of her children up to bed immediately promising Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny that by the time they woke up tomorrow they would have all their school things bought and packed away in their trunks. Hermione looked disappointed. She explained she wanted to buy more books at Flourish and Blotts to further influence her studies in Arithmancy and Transfiguration and she beamed as her parents gave her a proud look.  
  
"It looks like you'll need new robes Ron. I figure half your legs are showing from your old robes, you've grown so much," Mrs. Weasly said worriedly. Buying new robes meant spending more money and that was something the Weaslys didn't have an abundance of.  
  
As the group of them set off for bed, Harry walked by Mrs. Weasly and snuck a few Galleons into her pocket. He heard someone behind him give a small chuckle and he turned around and saw Moody's magical eye staring at Mrs. Weasly's pocket. Harry blushed a bit before he followed Ron upstairs to their room. Ready for a full night's rest.  
  
Harry found himself standing in a large room that was lit with thousands of candles. Even though there were enough candles to rival the floating ones in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, there were still shadows everywhere.  
"You must find the Black Diamond. . .You cannot fail not this time," a high pitched voice said in the shadowy corners. Harry could feel his scar burning. He knew that voice.he had heard it so many times.  
  
"Yes master.I will find you the Black Diamond.but it is well hidden my lord," a squashy voice said its voice filled with groveling. Harry scowled. Wormtail.  
  
"Excuse me my dear Wormtail? Did I hear doubt? Because you know what I do to my doubters," the voice said in a highly arrogant voice.  
  
"Oh. . . oh no my lord. I meant no doubt! I have full hopes to find the Black Diamond don't worry my lord you can count on me!"  
  
"Good. Because you saw how I treated Miss Lestrange when she failed to bring me the prophecy a month ago." Harry could hear Wormtail let out a gagged cry as if he remembered how horribly Voldemort had tortured the young female death eater.  
  
"Y-yes. . . my lord. I remember. Don't worry! I won't fail you my master. . . my w-w-wonderful master," Wormtail sniveled.  
  
"Get up Wormtail. Don't stain my robes with your filth."  
  
"O-of course my lord."  
  
"Get out of my sight." Voldemort snapped.  
  
"Yes my lord."  
  
The scene changed rapidly and Harry found himself back in the Department of Mysteries, watching Sirius fall into through the veil. Harry screamed loudly for his godfather while a high pitched laughter filled the room. Harry felt as if his head was going to split in two his scar burned so bad. A flashing green light filled Harry's vision before he started to shake violently, blind and confused as to what was going on.  
  
"Harry wake up! Wake up Harry! Harry you had another nightmare!" a voice yelled through the dark and misty cloud in Harry's mind. He sat up straight in his bed rather quickly and he put a hand up to his scar, the burning still there in his scar, but not as bad as it had been before. Harry looked up and saw Ron and Hermione looking at him, worried expressions etched into their tired faces.  
  
"What was all that about? Did you see You-Know-Who?" Ron asked anxiously. Hermione rolled her eyes and shot Ron a disapproving look.  
  
"Why don't you just say his name Ron?" Hermione scoffed before she gave Harry a nervous look, "Are you okay Harry?"  
  
"Yea.yea I'm alright."  
  
"What was that all about? You woke up the entire house. Of course, some of the members of the Order at Diagon Alley getting our things right now. Fred and George have gone as well. But was that you were screaming about? Something about a Black Diamond." Hermione explained in a rather hurried voice.  
  
"I don't know." Harry said truthfully and then he went into a detailed version of what he could remember in his dream. Leaving out the part about the Department of Mysteries.  
  
"You should tell someone in the Order about this right away. You telling them about this Black Diamond could be important." Hermione said in a stern voice that rivaled Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Look.I heard Wormtail. He said it was extremely hard to find and he had no clue where it was." Harry said blatantly.  
  
"But you know that if Voldemort wants something bad enough he'll find it. You've seen what he's capable of!" Hermione shouted boldly.  
  
"Look Hermione, just leave Harry alone for a bit. Can't you see he's a bit shaken up?" Ron shouted coming to Harry's defense. He offered Ron a smile before they heard the front door downstairs open.  
  
"We're home!" Tonks screamed at the top of her longs.  
  
"Oh Tonks!" they heard Mrs. Weasly scold as Mrs. Black started to scream curses at them again.  
  
"Sorry 'bout that Molly! I was excited to give these things to the kids!"  
  
"Just help me get the curtains closed around that infernal woman," Mrs. Weasly mumbled before the three of them could hear parcels being dropped down, Mrs. Black yelling at Mrs. Weasly and Tonks all the while.  
  
The weeks leading up until the first of September flew by rather rapidly to Harry and Ron's surprise. Hermione had buried her head into her schoolbooks explaining everything to her parents, from Transfiguration to Potions. Harry and Ron entertained themselves by exploring the house and finding many rooms that had been left untouched. They had explored the first three floors of the house, one week for each and as the first day of the fourth week began they began to tackle the fourth floor much to Mrs. Weasly's dismay.  
  
"I wish you two wouldn't go around causing trouble! This house is very, very old and I wouldn't want to disturb anything unpleasant hiding in some of the rooms."  
  
"Aw mum, you know we won't do anything rash," Ron explained as they bounded up the stairs to the fourth floor, Ginny on their heels. Mrs. Weasly gave him a accusing look before she set off to the kitchen to have a talk with some of the other members of the Order.  
  
Hermione poked her head out of one of the doors and gave them all disapproving looks. She was holding their new Defense against the Dark Arts book, 'Deciphering the Dark Wizard and his Curses' and she seemed to be halfway done with it.  
  
"What are you all doing?" she asked them as she set the book down in her room and came to join them.  
  
"Just exploring is all. There's nothing to do in this house. We can't even go out back and fly around on our brooms." Ron complained as they opened the door into a sun room, the windows not emitting any light because of all the dirt and grime caked on them. Ron saw a pair of big yellow eyes and shut the door quickly. "Best not go in there," he said with a grin.  
  
The quartet continued on finding yet another boggart in one of the toilets near the back of the floor. Since the entire fourth floor was just guest rooms, Harry and Ron decided to jump ahead and explore the fifth floor where they knew the master suite of Mrs. Black was.  
  
The floor was rarely used, except for the ancient house elf Kreacher who Harry had seen neither hide nor tail of since he arrived. Harry thought this a very good thing considering if he had seen Kreacher he would chop off his head, stuff it, and place it on the wall next to his ancestors. It was partially the house elf's fault that Sirius had died. Kreacher had personally injured the hippogriff Buckbeak to keep Sirius busy while Kreacher told Harry that Sirius had indeed left the house.  
  
The group remained silent as they walked up to a large oak door with a rather elegant door knob that would sneeze loudly if anybody touched it in a certain spot. Harry calmly opened the door and looked inside.  
  
This was definitely the master suite of Mrs. Black. There was a large canopy bed that was placed in the middle of the room, the black hangings had holes where Doxies had obviously chewed through and on top of the bed was a rather unusual animal.  
  
Laying on the bed, a bag of dead rats at its front claw, Buckbeak the hippogriff looked at them as if they were all mad. Buckbeak was half horse half eagle. His back end was that of a grey horse and the front end was a massive eagle with huge white wings. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all bowed to the hippogriff who bowed his head in return.  
  
It was obvious that Buckbeak didn't leave Mrs. Black's room often and the state of the room proved he had taken his boredom out on some of the furniture in the room. A sofa lay in shambles, the feathers from the cushions were all over the place and there was a discreet smell of waste that was coming from the joining master bathroom. There were pictures of the ancestors of the Black house and most of them were torn apart, the inhabitants of the pictures long run away to different portraits of famous pure blood wizards.  
  
"Smells like something died in here and didn't bother to pick up after themselves," Hermione said her face turning a putrid green color.  
  
"I think it's time to leave," Harry told all of them. They all said goodbye to Buckbeak before they left Mrs. Black's room, letting the door shut behind them.  
  
Hours later the four of them were in Harry and Ron's room discussing the coming of the second war and their upcoming year at Hogwarts. They were just getting on to a discussion about their new Dark Arts teacher when a petrified voice screamed from downstairs.  
  
Thinking an attack had been sprung on the Order headquarters; Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny brandished their wands and walked out into the hallway. The scream sounded through the house again. Hermione went white in the face.  
  
"That's my mom! Oh! Oh! Hurry Harry! Ron.we need to save her!" Hermione said her voice trembling with fear. That was when Mrs. Black started to scream again.  
  
"FILTHY GOOD FOR NOTHING MUDBLOODS! LEAVE NOW! MUGGLES IN MY HOUSE WHAT A DISGRACE!"  
  
"What is going on?" a new voice asked apparently it was coming from the door that lead down to the kitchen.  
  
"UNPURE BLOOD-"  
  
"Moody! Moody, Lupin! Buckbeak's on the rampage! He got out of the room! Oh when I get my hands on Ron." Mrs. Weasly shouted down to the kitchen. Harry heard Ron gulp down a lump in his throat as they heard many things crashing to the ground.  
  
"What's going on Molly. . . Oh Merlin's beard. . ."  
  
"DON'T POSION MY HOUSE WITH YOUR DECENT! OUT, OUT, OUT!"  
  
"Oh my stars how did he get out?"  
  
"Must have been Potter and Weasly."  
  
"KREACHER! KREACHER THERE'S FOUL BEINGS AFOOT!"  
  
"Would someone please shut her up?" Bill Weasly shouted obviously behind a few people. There was more crashing followed by a satisfied roar of approval.  
  
"Stupefy him and we'll take him back up to the room." Lupin suggested.  
  
"I'll take Mr. and Mrs. Granger downstairs, fix them a cup of tea. They look like they're in a state of shock," Mrs. Weasly explained before they heard three pairs of feet go down the stairs to the kitchen.  
  
"Let's catch ourselves a hippogriff," Tonks said, happy that something was actually happening in the stuffy old house.  
  
But catching a hippogriff that had been captive in a room for a long amount of time proved difficult. Buckbeak led his keepers in and out of room, the crashing reverberating through the entire house.  
  
"Remus to the other side of the door."  
  
"FILTHY MUDBLOODS!"  
  
"Tonks.go up behind him!"  
  
"GOOD FOR NOTHING-"  
  
"Not in front Tonks behind!"  
  
"Sorry Moody."  
  
And then Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny heard a large quantity of voices yell at once, "Stupefy!" The crashing and roaring from Buckbeak ceased and there came many cheers coming from what seemed to be the parlor room.  
  
"ALL OF THEM SHOULD BE KILLED! MANGY MUGGLE BORNS!" Mrs. Black screeched. Harry heard Moody appoint a few to escort the petrified hippogriff back to the master suite and then another few wizards to take care of Mrs. Black.  
  
"And you," they heard Moody say to a person downstairs, "fetch Potter, Granger, and the two Weaslys." They all exchanged fearful looks before Lupin came upstairs and beckoned them to go into the kitchen.  
  
Mrs. Weasly wasn't too happy with the lot of them. "I don't believe it! Do you know someone could have been seriously hurt? You gave Mrs. Granger quite a fright when Buckbeak went charging past her!" Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked down guiltily and gave their sincerest apologies to Mrs. Granger. She gave them a sympathetic smile.  
  
"And for your punishment."  
  
"Do we have to have a punishment mom? It wasn't really our fault," Ron said cutting off his mother which made her if even possible madder.  
  
"You lot are to clean up all the rooms that Buckbeak destroyed until the first."  
  
"You can't be serious mum! We have two weeks left until the start of term! Don't make us end our holidays by cleaning!" Ginny cried out.  
  
"I won't hear it. If you want a few days off before we leave for King's Cross I suggest you get started now."  
  
And so for the next two weeks, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, with much persistence, began to clean up the three floors that Buckbeak had managed to stampede through. They would all wake up considerably early. Eat their breakfast and then work until lunch. Mrs. Weasly was kind enough to bring them lunch in whatever room they were working on for the day. Most of the time the four of them would skip dinner and head straight to bed, Harry even too tired to dream about Voldemort and his quest for the Black Diamond.  
  
And no matter how hard Harry tried to call Hermione off, she kept insisting that Harry tell the Order about the Black Diamond and Voldemort's wish to have it as soon as possible. Ron helped him for the most part saying that cleaning a large house was enough for Harry to handle and thinking about some stupid dream wasn't going to make cleaning even more enjoyable. Hermione just rolled her eyes and got back to pushing the stuffing back into the foot rest that had tried to bite Ron weeks ago.  
  
Then September first came and Harry and Ron were ecstatic to be leaving behind their cleaning, happy that they wouldn't have to clean anything for a whole school year. They traveled with a few members of the Order to King's Cross, Hermione saying goodbye to her parents at the Black house. They crossed through to Platform Nine and three quarters and Harry, Ron, and Hermione found an empty compartment in the middle of the train, stowed their things inside and went back out on the platform to say goodbye to everyone that came to see them off.  
  
"Say hello to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for me," Lupin told Harry a few minutes before the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to depart.  
  
"Do you know him?" Harry asked suspiciously.  
  
"Let's just say we kind of grew up together," Lupin said with a wink. "Now get on the train before it leaves without you." Harry shook Lupin's hand and boarded the train just as the whistle sounded and the train pushed off and headed off towards Hogwarts. 


	6. Cassandra White

6. Cassandra White  
  
Harry walked away from the train door after the Head Boy (a young man from Hufflepuff that Harry didn't know) scolded him for being so close to the train door. Harry met up with Ron and Hermione in the middle of the train corridor and headed towards their compartment.  
  
They opened the door and found, to their surprise, that another person had claimed the compartment. She was reading a muggle novel and she seemed to be extremely engrossed in the book because she didn't even acknowledge their presence as they walked into their compartment, giving the girl strange looks.  
  
In fact, Harry had never recalled seeing her on the train his entire five years of traveling on the train. She must have been a first year but she seemed too old to be eleven. He noticed she had straight black hair that went past her shoulders and she seemed to be middle height. Harry didn't get a good look at her face before she cleared her throat and turned the page in her book.  
  
Ron gave Harry a questioning look as if to ask 'who is this girl and what is she doing in our compartment?' Harry just shrugged his shoulders and he heard Pigwidgeon give out a rather obnoxious hoot. The three watched in wonder as the girl reading her book snapped her head up quickly and gave them an apologetic smile.  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone else was using this compartment. Bye," the girl said and with that she grabbed her trunk and moved out of the compartment leaving Ron, Hermione and Harry in a sort of dazed stupor.  
  
"That was weird," Ron commented, "She didn't even have an English accent. And boy was she dressed like a muggle." And now that Harry thought about it, he realized Ron's words were true.  
  
With the short conversation she had Harry could tell she didn't have a trace of an English accent. She didn't even look English and that was what seemed very interesting to Harry. She was expertly dressed like a muggle as if she had been one all her life. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a T- shirt with an intricate design on it. Harry recalled her startling blue eyes and her high cheekbones. Harry was extremely confused. What was going on?  
  
After the Express had gotten underway Hermione and Ron hurried off to the prefect's compartment to talk about certain business they would be attaining to that year. When they returned to Harry's compartment they found they were visited by some of their fellow Gryffindor sixth years. Neville Longbottom came by with his toad Trevor firmly clutched in his hands. Trevor had an unusual nasty record of trying to run away from Neville and with Neville's poor memory, it almost seemed like he had misplaced his toad on accident on several occasions. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas also sat in their compartment a while talking about the attacks on Delilah Grant and her family.  
  
"Mum was in a state of shock. Witch Weekly is like her bible," Dean Thomas explained as he and Seamus started to leave their compartment to go to their own compartment that they shared with Lavender Brown and Paravati Patil. As soon as Ron and Harry's roommates left the plump, kind witch who pushed the food trolley came by to offer them the assortment of wizard candies and sweets. Harry bought three of everything, and the three of them ate in peace, talking about their hopes for the start of term.  
  
"I hope they don't give us too much homework this week," moaned Ron who had just pulled out a cauldron cake, "I've been cleaning that bloody Black house for two weeks and the only thing that could make it worse would be too much homework."  
  
"But Ron, its expected of us! We're sixth year students and this is one of the final years where we learn some of the advanced magic before we go onto the really hard stuff. I heard we have to Transfigure elephants into peanuts! Of course I'm not worried about it of course. I've read countless books about it in the library at the Black house," Hermione explained as she offered a bit of her Chocolate Frog to Crookshanks who was lying down next to his owner.  
  
"Well, well if it isn't Potty, Mudblood, and the Weasel," a cruel voice said from the front door of their compartment. Harry looked up and saw Draco Malfoy, his worst enemy at Hogwarts standing in the front door; arms crossed his two friends Crabbe and Goyle flanking his sides.  
  
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked shortly.  
  
"Just to remind you that all of you are going to pay for what you did to my father."  
  
"He deserved it Malfoy. I hope he rots there," Hermione blurted out, surprised at her own daring.  
  
"Oh really you little mudblood? Well just you wait because when my father gets out of Azkaban I'm going to come after you personally." Malfoy spat out before he and his two cronies left as quickly as they had come.  
  
"What a gimpy little prat! I hope they throw him in Azkaban too! I bet you he wouldn't survive a day there!" Ron said his ears turning pink.  
  
"Just let it go Ron. He can't do anything to us. He wouldn't try anything right under Dumbledore's nose and you know it. We're perfectly fine." Hermione explained in a convincing voice. "I think we should get changed into our robes though. I expect we'll be arriving soon." Hermione ordered rather forcefully as she pulled out one of the long black robes that was the standard Hogwarts uniform.  
  
Once they were in their robes the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station. Hermione and Ron had left ahead of Harry to direct the rest of the school to the carriages that would take them to the school for the start of term feast. Harry finally stepped onto the platform when he heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Firs' years over here! Firs' years this way please!" Harry looked up and saw a large bulk shading the light from the castle. Harry hurried over and gave a quick hello to Hagrid, the half giant who was the Ground and Game Keeper for Hogwarts as well as the professor for the Care of Magical Creatures class.  
  
Harry then hurried along with the rest of the school to the carriages and shared one with Neville, Dean, Ginny, and Seamus. Once everyone was in their coach, they started off to the castle of Hogwarts, passing through the front gates that were guarded by large stone boars.  
  
Harry quickly found Ron and Hermione who had saved him a seat near the front of the Great Hall. He sat down and gazed at the empty golden plates longingly. Even though he had eaten like a hippogriff on the trip, he was starving. He missed the Hogwarts meals so much it made his stomach hurt.  
  
"Oi here they come!" Ron muttered to Harry and Hermione as the newest batch of first year students followed McGonagall into the Hall, every pair of eyes staring at the small and timid children as they made their way to the front of the Great Hall. All of them stared around in wonderment and anxiety as they stared at the bewitched ceiling and the candles that floated around in mid air.  
  
Harry noticed the same girl that had occupied his compartment on the train ride to the school. Her black Hogwarts robes billowed around her as she walked down the middle of the hall. If anything she looked cool, clam and collected and Harry could hear her utter words of assurance to a particular nervous young girl with frizzy blonde hair and many freckles.  
  
"Don't worry about a thing Georgia, I've been sorted before.it's nothing really," the girl explained with an air of carelessness as they stopped in front of Professor McGonagall in front of everyone in the school. Harry and Hermione exchanged confused looks about what this girl had said. Somewhere around the table someone sighed longingly.  
  
Everyone watched in anticipation as Professor McGonagall went into a room to the side of the Hall and brought forward a beat up, three legged stool with the infamous and raggedy wizard's hat that had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat ceremony was about to begin. The hat ripped open at the seam and it began one of its infamous songs.  
  
centerI've been around for many years Or so it has been said Because four old wizards made it clear I was to help them out instead  
  
In Gryffindor you'll find The brave and stoat at heart They're valiant and kind They find they can't wait to start  
  
Or find yourself in Hufflepuff Where there dwell the sweet and kind The lot is made of sociable stuff Although they don't lack the mind  
  
Or perhaps you'll call Ravenclaw Your long lasting residence They have the smarts and no flaws They're always striving for intelligence  
  
But maybe you'll be in Slytherin Where there are good turnabouts Many great wizards and witches Have Slytherin spat out  
  
So gather one and all You'll know just where I'm at I'll be placed upon your head For I am the Sorting Hat!/center  
  
The hall burst out into mild applause as the hat became silent again, ready for the task at hand. Professor McGonagall pulled out a piece of parchment and instructed the new students of what to do once their name was called.  
  
"Adams, Gregory." McGonagall called out after looking up from a long piece of parchment. Harry watched as a gangly boy with large teeth and blonde hair walked up to the stool, McGonagall placing the hat on his head.  
  
"RAVENCLAW!" the sorting hat shouted loudly. There came resounding applause from the Ravenclaw table as Gregory Adams walked happily towards the Ravenclaw table, two third years making room for the young boy. McGonagall read off the names and many more first years were sorted. Harry still noticed that the one girl was still waiting for her name to be called. After McGonagall called out three more names ("Smith, Penelope! Turner, Andrew! Venning, Harold") Harry noticed that the tall girl was the last one standing.  
  
"White, Cassandra," McGonagall shouted out to the silent Hall. Harry watched as the girl calmly walked up to the Sorting Hat and flashed the entire Hall a thumbs up as McGonagall placed the hat on her head.  
  
The entire school waited in silence as the Sorting Hat made its decision. It was taking an unusual long time to sort this Cassandra White but she still had a happy grin on her face as she waiting patiently. The Hat took a bit more time in deciding and everyone was becoming bored and a few had even started to talk to their neighbors all hungry from the long day's traveling.  
  
"Wish that hat would hurry up," Ron muttered to no one as he stared at his empty plate, "I could eat twenty house elves."  
  
"Ron!" Hermione gasped quietly. Apparently Hermione was still on her S.P.E.W. stint. Everyone became quiet when the Hat took a sharp intake of breath.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted loudly for the school to hear. The Gryffindor students cheered as well as some of the other tables.  
  
"About time really," Ron shouted to Harry above the cheers as he and Ginny scooted to make room for the newly named Gryffindor.  
  
Harry noticed that Dumbledore had stood up while McGonagall took the Sorting Hat and the stool away. He held up his hands to silence the group of students, his sleeves from his bright purple robes fanning out grandly.  
  
"Another year has come and I must say that we must all be wary of the events happening outside of our beloved school. At the end of term last year, the Ministry of Magic saw fit to announce the return of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore paused as many of the students winced at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. "Although you are perfectly safe on the Hogwart's grounds let it be known that the forest is strictly forbidden to all students and trips to Hogsmeade will be closely monitored by some of our professors. If any of you witness strange behavior in or around Hogsmeade please inform a professor or Head Boy or Girl immediately. Let it also be known that if any student takes advantage of this they will be severely punished. It is no laughing matter and it will not be taken lightly." Dumbledore explained his voice dangerously quiet. McGonagall cleared her throat and tilted her head towards the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Oh yes.excuse me you see in my feeble old age I have forgotten to introduce one of our newest students. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to inform you that we have a new student who will be starting in the sixth year this term at Hogwarts. She is from the American Wizard Academy, WillowBoil Academy and I hope that you Gryffindor students will help her get accustomed to our ways here at Hogwarts. I am pleased to introduce Cassandra White, transfer student from WillowBoil Academy,"  
  
Everyone clapped politely as Cassandra White stood up on her bench and waved to all the students a giant grin exposing her perfectly straight and white teeth. The students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff clapped politely while some of the Slytherins started to laugh. Ignoring them Cassandra took her seat and Dumbledore announced the beginning of the feast and the food magically appeared on the plates.  
  
"Wow! That was cool.they didn't do that at WillowBoil!" an amazed voice cried. Harry looked down the row and saw the sixteen year old girl grab a few pieces of food from the serving plates and dumped it on her dish.  
  
"Yeah, its brilliant Hogwarts is. The kitchen is directly below the Hall and there are dozens of house elves in the kitchen that make everything!" Ron explained to the girl as he helped himself to some Yorkshire pudding.  
  
"I'm Ron Weasly," he said thickly a bunch of pudding in his mouth as he extending his hand out.  
  
"Cassandra White, call me Cassie" she said as she shook his hand offering him another dazzling smile. "Who're your friends? I saw you talking to them earlier," Cassandra inquired as she looked over at Harry and Hermione.  
  
"Oh.yea.erm.this is Hermione Granger, you're not going to find another clever witch than Hermione, but just don't let her bully you into joining spew."  
  
"It isn't spew Ron! It's S.P.E.W.!" Hermione exclaimed as she threw Ron an angry look.  
  
"Whatever.its still spew to me.and this is Harry Potter." Ron began but when Harry extended his hand it seemed as if Cassandra's cheerful demeanor had evaporated and she looked at Harry with a look of almost pure terror. Harry watched as the girl looked over his shoulder and stared at the head table. She seemed to have caught someone's eye because she nodded slightly and her smile appeared again.  
  
"Hullo Harry! Nice meeting you! I've heard tons about you!" she said cheerfully as she shook his hand vigorously. Harry smiled at her before he looked over at Hermione who just shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her pumpkin juice; Ron talking to Cassandra for the rest of dinner.  
  
Once the plates had cleared themselves and all the leftovers were sent back to the kitchens below, Dumbledore stood up and announced once again that the Forbidden Forest was off limits to all students and Qudditch tryouts would be held in two weeks time. Everyone headed out of the Great Hall and towards their dormitories.  
  
The group of sixth year Gryffindors walked elatedly to their common room each of them happy to be back at Hogwarts. All of them had a good laugh at Cassandra who thought it would be quite funny to bewitch a couple of sweets from dinner to follow Peeves around the castle. The poltergeist finally took off down the hallways screaming his revenge at the new student. They all watched fixedly as Cassandra gushed at everything that went on around the castle. When they finally stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione let out the password ("Tummy Twister") the door swung open and all of them hurried into the common room the fire burning brightly and offering the students a cheerful surrounding.  
  
Many of the students started off to bed but Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed down in the common room unaware that Cassandra was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs gazing into the fire longingly.  
  
"Ruddy hell," Ron cursed loudly as he looked at his schedule. "We have double Potions tomorrow with Slytherin what a way to start off the new term. Why doesn't Snape just go and get himself killed by You-Know-Who?"  
  
"Ron! You know you don't mean that!" Hermione exclaimed in a horrified voice.  
  
"'Course I do! He's a big git and I just can't stand him, or his house!" Ron muttered "Oh well, at least we have Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow with Ravenclaw. We really haven't had the time to chat with Hagrid," Ron said quietly as he put his schedule back into his bag. Harry and Hermione exchanged looks. Ron was right about that.  
  
"That's true Ron." Harry began but Hermione put up a hand to silence him.  
  
"Do you hear that?" she asked her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"What?" Harry asked he and Ron leaning in closer so they could hear Hermione better.  
  
"Someone's crying," she said and pointed towards the fire. Hermione was right, someone was definitely crying although he or she was trying to disguise the cries. Hermione got up and walked over to one of the overstuffed arm chairs and looked down at the crying figure.  
  
"What's the matter?" Harry and Ron heard her ask. The person in the chair let out a muffled answer and they watched Hermione give the person a pat on the shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry; you won't be homesick for long. I'm sure you're going to love Hogwarts, just give it a chance. I'm sure you've had a long day what with traveling and getting used to a new school with new people.and believe me you have Potions tomorrow with Snape, you need your rest." Harry exchanged looks with Ron. They had never heard Hermione have that sort of kind and reassuring voice with a lot of people. Especially with new people she didn't really know. The two watched as the figure got to his feet and Harry could make out shoulder length black hair and a tall, elegant figure. Harry had a feeling as to who this person was and they were confirmed when he found himself staring at Cassandra White her eyes a bit red. She shook her head and her straight black hair moved around gracefully across her face and then back into place.  
  
She gave them all a feeble wave and a smile of thanks to Hermione before she turned towards the stairs leading towards the dormitories. "Um." she said with a small laugh, "Which way to the girls' rooms?"  
  
Hermione got to her feet and grabbed her bag, before she said goodnight to Ron and Harry. "Here let me show you.it's to the left and all of the sixth year girls share a room," Hermione said eagerly as they walked up the left flight of stairs.  
  
"That was a bit weird," Ron commented as he and Harry packed up their things ready to head up to bed.  
  
"Yea." Harry said looking up after Hermione and Cassandra, "weird."  
  
The next day was sunny and clear and the enchanted ceiling didn't show a cloud in its bewitched sky. Harry and Ron were already at breakfast when Hermione came down into the Hall, Cassandra in tow.  
  
"Morning all!" Hermione said cheerfully as she sat down at the Gryffindor table Cassandra taking the seat next to her. Harry and Ron talked animatedly about the new Quidditch season and how they were going to replace the Gryffindor Beaters since Fred and George had graduated the previous year. Hermione and Cassandra were talking about the headlines in the Daily Prophet and Hermione was explaining about each of their teachers.  
  
"Of course you'll have Divination with Harry and Ron since I'm in Arithmancy. But don't believe a word Professor Trelawney says; she's an old fraud," Hermione elucidated. Cassandra nodded with a curious smile on her face. The bell rang out signaling the end of breakfast as the Gryffindor sixth years hurried down to the dungeons with the Slytherins, Draco Malfoy shooting dark looks at Harry and his friends.  
  
They were the reason why Draco's father Lucius Malfoy was stuck in Azkaban. After the three of them and some of their friends had gone to the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries to try to save Sirius, Harry's godfather, the Order of the Phoenix had come to their rescue and had caught some of the Death Eaters that served Lord Voldemort, one of them being Draco's father.  
  
They soon reached Snape's dungeon and they rushed inside, Harry trying to find a seat near the back. He despised Snape ever since his first year and the feeling was mutual when Snape was concerned. Ron followed Harry to one of the farthest desk from the front of the room. He hated Snape almost as much has Harry. They both looked for Hermione but she had gone towards the middle of the room, Cassandra following her. They sat down next to Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan both of their fellow sixth years were looking at Cassandra with great interest.  
  
Hermione and Cassandra were talking intently and they both laughed out loud at a funny joke one of them had just told. "Look at them," Ron explained as everyone else filed into the room, "Nutters both of them. You figure Hermione's going off to get a new best friend the way she carries on with Cassandra." Harry just shrugged his shoulders. He had never really seen Hermione with any other girls from their house. Sure she was friends with Ginny but she had always been with Ron and Harry. He thought she deserved a bit of a break from them.  
  
"Silence all of you," a slippery voice snapped from the front of the room. Harry looked up and saw Professor Severus Snape slink into the dungeon classroom an extremely displeased look on his face. His greasy black hair was slicked back and his large hooked nose made him look all the more unattractive. The class fell into an uncomfortable silence as Snape sat behind his desk. He pointed his wand at the blackboard behind him and the potion the class would be brewing today appeared on the board.  
  
"We're making the Silencing Potion today. And if you lot brew it right your partner should not be able to speak. When you are done brewing your potion, bring up your partner and if you've done it right I will give them the antidote. You may begin."  
  
Harry and Ron began their potion both of them deciding that Ron would be the tester of their results. While Ron was cutting up the muted frog legs, Harry started to add his wolf bane spices. He looked over at Cassandra and Hermione, and Harry realized that the two of them had nearly half of the potion done. And despite Snape's sharp looks of disapproval, the two of them were talking and laughing about every little thing.  
  
But poor Neville was having a horrible time seeing as potions was his worst subject. He had begun to add a pinch of powdered daisy roots but the entire lid of the bottle fell off, the lid falling into the potion with a splash followed by all of his daisy roots. Harry watched as all the sixth year Slytherins laughed as Neville put his ladle in his now smoking green potion, trying to fish out the daisy root jar lid.  
  
"I believe you have done enough Mr. Longbottom. If you would kindly dispose of this atrocity of a potion. . .but no, not even you can get rid of a simple Silencing Potion, you can't even measure out your daisy roots.lest even remember that you only needed half a pinch." Snape began as he stood in front of Neville, the poor forgetful boy looking as if he were about to cry.  
  
"Why don't you leave him alone?" a voice behind Snape growled out. The entire classroom was thrown into silence, even the Slytherins stopped jeering at Neville to see who would dare speak out against their professor. Professor Snape turned around quickly and the whole class could see Cassandra White standing before the tall and lanky potions master hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.  
  
"Excuse me?" Snape whispered dangerously.  
  
"I'm sorry, maybe you had an extra amount of ear wax in your ears or you probably didn't hear me the first time. I said, leave him alone," Cassandra said as she inched closer to her infuriated teacher. All the Gryffindors exchanged looks with one another. Sure all of them had insulted Professor Snape before, but not to his face.  
  
"That will be fifty points from Gryffindor Miss White, now if you don't take your seat and stay quiet I will personally see that you are thrown out of this school for disrespect to your elders."  
  
"You can't do anything to me Professor Snape. You're not the head of my house! And if you don't stop bullying poor students maybe I'll have a talk with the headmaster myself!  
  
"Fifty points from Gryffindor, White and a detention and if you don't sit down right now it'll be one hundred fifty points from Gryffindor!" But Cassandra refused to move from her spot on the dungeon room floor. Harry looked at the back of Malfoy's head and saw him sniggering with Crabbe and Goyle. Snape was about to tell Cassandra off again but a shrill ringing noise stopped him from doing so. Everyone looked over at Neville's cauldron and saw that the smoke was rising faster, and the ringing noise was becoming louder. Snape dived away quickly as did Neville and Cassandra but Malfoy and his two cronies didn't notice in time and the entire potion exploded all over not only Neville's station but Draco, Crabbe and Goyle as well. All of the Gryffindors erupted with laughter as the reeking smell of rotten cabbage and eggs omitted from the three Slytherins.  
  
Harry noticed that Snape's face had turned an awful crimson color and he stood up from behind his desk and looked at his class, hair in his face. "EVERYONE OUT THIS INSTANT! YOU ARE TO WRITE AN ESSAY ABOUT THE SILENCING POTION AND ITS USES.TWO ROLES OF PARCHMENT DUE TO ME TOMORROW! LONGBOTTOM, STAY AND CLEAN UP YOUR MESS. . .WHITE, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A WORD WITH YOU. . .IN. . .MY. . .OFFICE!" Snape bellowed his hair in disarray and his face turning back to its usual pale color. Harry, Ron, and Hermione and the rest of the class packed up their ingredients and their cauldrons and headed out of Snape's classroom, the smell of reeking cabbage following them.  
  
Harry turned around and saw Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy slump out of the classroom, Malfoy still trying to hold what dignity he had left. "Just wait until I tell my father about that Yank! He'll be absolutely appalled that Dumbledore even suggested having a foreigner emitted into our school!"  
  
"And what is your father going to do about it Malfoy? He's under lock and key in Azkaban. He has zero power to help you get through school now." Hermione pointed out. Malfoy gave her a filthy look before he said a few words that had Ron and Harry grasping their wands from inside their robes.  
  
"Just let it go.his ego's a bit bruised," Hermione explained trying her hardest not to be taken aback by the names Malfoy had called her although Harry could see she was clearly shaken up by it.  
  
"What shall we do now?" Harry asked, "Snape let us out half an hour earlier than he meant to."  
  
"I say we wait for Cassie to get out of Snape's class.Fred and George would have loved her I'm telling you right now," Ron explained as he sat down on the stone steps staring at the classroom door, waiting for Cassandra to appear.  
  
"Don't worry Professor Snape. . .it won't happen again. Maybe if you weren't too hard on your students. . .if you offered tutoring or something maybe some of the students wouldn't hate you so much," a voice explained very close to the entrance of Snape's classroom.  
  
"GET OUT! DO NOT LECTURE ME ON HOW TO TEACH MY CLASSES YOUNG LADY!" Snape screamed from inside his classroom.  
  
"See you in a few days Professor Snape.great class really," the voice replied before Cassandra walked out of the classroom a big smile on her face.  
  
"That wasn't smart.you lost us one hundred points on the first day!" Hermione scolded Cassandra as she walked up to the three students sitting on the steps.  
  
"One hundred thirty . . . I talked back to him and he took another thirty. I guess its some kind of record. Anyway, you guys didn't have to wait up for me; I was just going to go into the Hall and a snack or something. Any one of you up for it or have I been marked a disturber of the peace?" Cassandra asked a goofy smile still planted on her face.  
  
"Sounds like a good idea actually. I didn't have a lot at breakfast," Ron started before he walked up the steps with Cassandra beside him, Harry and Hermione following closely.  
  
"Look Longbottom, it's your Yankee girlfriend! Is she going to save you from the dinner plates from not serving you enough food? Because lord knows your ass isn't big enough" Malfoy jeered from across the hall. Neville looked as if someone had pulled his pants down in the middle of the hall, his face had gone a dark red from embarrassment and Cassandra offered him a reassuring smile.  
  
By the time dinner had rolled around everyone had known about how the American transfer student had lost one hundred thirty points for her house because she had been brave enough to stand up to Snape. Many of the people who were terrified of Snape, Neville in particular, had held Cassandra up to some sort of higher light and all of the students from each of the houses (with the exception of Slytherin) had given her shouts of congratulations in the hallway.  
  
The rest of the classes, however, had gone smoothly. Hagrid, even though he had to be fair to all students, had secretly pulled Harry and Ron aside during his Care of Magical Creatures Class to tell them that Cassandra was one of the most brave and brilliant people he had ever met. And not only that, but Cassandra shared his love with extremely dangerous creatures.  
  
"Sure I saw a dragon once," she had told Hagrid that day after they had read about the magical beasts in their books, "one of the American Purple Short Snouts...but it was when I was just about three, they had one at the zoo before it escaped and had to be taken up to Antarctica."  
  
"Hey Longbottom, maybe if you screw up in Transfiguration tomorrow and turn your toad into a brain, you could actually remember things!" Malfoy screamed across the hall once more. He continued to shout insults at Neville, who had never been so publicly humiliated in his life (second to when he had received a Howler letter from his grandmother about leaving the Gryffindor passwords out for Sirius Black, then a runaway from Azkaban, to find) and Harry noticed a small tear escape his left eye. Malfoy then moved his insults to include Neville's parents and that's when Harry knew he had gone too far.  
  
"Maybe if your parents weren't as fat and as stupid as you Longbottom, they probably wouldn't be at St. Mungo's drooling and speaking gibberish because they stuck their noses into other people's businesses!" This sent the Slytherins into howls of laughter some even clapping Malfoy on the back. Harry looked up towards the teacher's head table and wondered why none of them were doing anything to stop Malfoy's insults.  
  
Harry watched in awe as Cassandra whispered something into Neville's ear before she got up from her seat and walked over to where Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins were and sat down on the table, looking directly at Malfoy. The whole hall went silent again, all eyes on the Slytherin table.  
  
"Thank you Draco for thinking that Neville Longbottom was my boyfriend. I would be extremely honored to have someone as nice and as brave as Neville as a boyfriend. And I am absolutely shocked that a handsome young man like you doesn't have a girlfriend. Oh, wait, could it be because you still smell like rotten cabbage and rotten eggs?" Cassandra asked her face inches from Malfoy's. The entire hall erupted into laughter as Cassandra let out a little laugh of her own. "Oh but it seems as though your rancid smell has started to fade.here let me help you regain your special odor." And with a devilish grin on her face she picked up his goblet of pumpkin juice and dumped it all over his head.  
  
The entire hall gasped in shock all of them watching as Malfoy jumped from his seat and he looked at Cassandra who was still sitting on the Slytherin table, grinning from ear to ear. "Please consider the next time you open your foul mouth to insult someone who has never done something to earn it Mr. Draco Malfoy, because I am a firm believer in karma and what goes around." Cassandra said in a deathly quiet voice that made it hard for everyone in the hall to hear, "Comes around." And with that, she hopped off of the Slytherin table curtsied to the head table and apologized for her rudeness at dinner before she walked to the doorways that lead to the large marble staircase.  
  
"I like her," Ron said to Harry over the cheers, "Let's see Malfoy try to curse or insult anybody with Cassie around!" 


	7. An Unusual Audtion

Thanks to all who reviewed! I'm not sure if I'll continue due to lack of reviews but I'll see what I can do.  
  
NOTE: I'm making Katie Bell a seventh year in this story due to the fact that I was stupid not to put a part in here where Harry find's out he's Quidditch captain. Plus I don't know if he's ready yet.  
  
7. An Unusual Audition.  
  
After the first two days back at Hogwarts the sixth years realized that their work load had tripled since fifth year. Ron complained about the absurd amount of homework Professor Trelawney had assigned him, Harry, and Cassandra. The three of them, including Hermione were in the Gryffindor common room trying to finish their homework. Harry, Ron and Cassandra sat around with their planet and star charts trying to predict the upcoming month. Ron had informed Cassandra that their old fraud of a divination professor loved death predictions and Cassandra seemed to be handling the situation fabulously.  
  
"So let's see, next week I'll stumble into the Forbidden Forest and meet up with a troll who'll club me to death," Cassandra said as she wrote something down on her parchment. "Because my zodiac sign doesn't get along with Virgo and Jupiter has blocked out Mercury." Harry and Ron nodded while Hermione rolled her eyes as she busied herself with her Arithmancy homework.  
  
"And I'll take a Bludger to the head and slip into a coma," Ron explained as he wrote furiously a great big smile coming across his face. What about you Harry?"  
  
"I was going to use something with Quidditch. Oh! I'll be poisoned by an enemy," Harry said before he wrote it down next to a rather lopsided looking planet.  
  
"Cassie should use that one seeing as Snape hates her guts already," Ron pointed out before the three of them laughed.  
  
"What classes do we have tomorrow?" Cassandra inquired as she put away her Divination homework and pulled out a rather nasty looking Transfiguration essay.  
  
"We finally have Defense Against the Dark Arts tomorrow. I'm extremely anxious to see who the new teacher is," Hermione exclaimed bursting in on their conversation. The three of them gave each other knowing looks as well as looks of excitement.  
  
"Any teacher could be better than that old Umbridge prat," Ron said loudly as he also pulled out his Transfiguration homework.  
  
"Is she coming back this year?" Cassandra asked as she began to write her essay about the steps it took to transfigure a rope to a snake.  
  
"Everyone says the Defense Against the Dark Arts position is cursed. We've had a different one every year. One dead, two in St. Mungo's, one of them was a werewolf, and one was an imposter. The real professor was locked up in a trunk the whole school year." Hermione explained her voice rather low. "I've kept asking some of the other years who the teacher is but they won't tell me. Said it was some big secret."  
  
"Well, I guess the secret's out tomorrow then. I'm heading up to bed; I'll finish this work in History of Magic tomorrow. I'm sure Binns won't mind," Cassandra explained stifling a yawn before she gathered her things and headed upstairs.  
  
When Harry, Ron and Hermione gathered in the Great Hall the next day for breakfast they found that Cassandra was already there, gulping down pumpkin juice and some scrambled eggs, her Divination homework spread out in front of her. Many of the Gryffindors ignored her. Here was the person that set them in last place for the House Cup. Losing one hundred thirty points in one day was a new record. Not even Fred and George Weasly had lost that many points in a single day. Cassandra didn't seem to mind though. She was busy copying down another horrendous accident she would be having in the following month.  
  
"This is why we don't procrastinate Cassandra," Hermione scolded as her pumpkin juice teetered dangerously over Cassandra's chart.  
  
"Nonsense Hermione, procrastination is the American way!" Cassandra said with a laugh as she put the finishing touches on her perfect fortune telling chart. "At WillowBoil everyone was eating in the cafeteria and scrambling to finish their homework. It's quite a shock not to see it here. I would be off exploring the castle right about now if this were WillowBoil."  
  
"But you wouldn't have it done before your class!" Hermione said amazed looking as if Cassandra were the spawn of something evil.  
  
"So? I just do it in class before the bell rings. I usually get top points on it."  
  
"But Hogwarts is different! This is the finest school to learn witchcraft and the teachers are lots harder! You'll start to slip off if you don't step up!" Hermione explained feverishly.  
  
"I'll keep it in mind but I'm not worried about it Hermione. If worse comes to worse I'll just go back to WillowBoil." Cassandra said simply.  
  
Harry and Ron looked at each other. Why did Cassandra leave WillowBoil to come to Hogwarts? If she was perfectly happy to go back to WillowBoil why didn't she just leave?  
  
"Um. . . Cassie, what do your parents think about you coming to Hogwarts?" Harry asked giving her a questioning look.  
  
"They don't think anything. Both my parents are dead." Cassandra explained before she packed up her things and pushed her plate away from her. Her appetite seemed to have vanished. "See you guys in Binns' class," she added before she left the Great Hall a grim smile set on her face.  
  
"I think that was the wrong thing to say," Hermione pointed out as they watched her leave.  
  
"Wow Hermione, what was your first clue?" Ron snapped before they started to eat their breakfast, each of them talking about schoolwork and the mysterious Dark Arts teacher.  
  
When Harry, Hermione, and Ron arrived in Professor Binns class, they found Cassandra surrounded by the rest of the Gryffindor sixth years. They were all laughing at something they said, her face hidden. Then her face popped up and everyone burst out into hysterics. There she was black hair slicked back, a melon slice stuck to her nose and protruding out.  
  
"Fifty points from Gryffindor Miss Brown! You too Mr. Thomas for staring at your cauldron instead of doing something to it!" Cassandra snapped in a perfect impression of Snape. The sixth years doubled over in laughter as Cassandra started to skip around the room singing a rather bawdy song. Ron laughed out loudly and joined the other sixth years. "ONE HUNDRED FIFTY POINTS WEASLY FOR HAVING RED HAIR LIKE THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY!" Cassandra bellowed and Ron couldn't help but laugh at her incessant antics.  
  
Hermione let out a small scoff and she looked at Harry as if expecting him to scoff as well. But a small smile tweaked the sides of Harry's mouth before Professor Binns entered the room. The laughter died quickly and the melon fell off of Cassandra's nose as she took a seat between Dean Thomas and Seams Finnigan. Her hair fell across her face again as she pulled out some parchment and a quill ready to take notes.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione took a seat close to the back so they could take notes and talk quietly without dying of boredom. "What has she got against Snape?" Hermione asked before she quickly took notes about the Vampire Ban of 1432. Harry shrugged as he moved his quill swiftly across his parchment.  
  
"It's obvious isn't it? He took off one hundred thirty points because she spoke her mind in class."  
  
"But she kind of deserved it Ron."  
  
"So? I'm almost positive he'll be out for her blood next. He's going to take points off from her for her just having black hair or for being from America. Just wait you'll see." Ron countered and Hermione shook her head, muttering how stupid he was being before she went back to her notes.  
  
Their class ended an hour later and Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to the common room to put away their History of Magic text books and notes in their dormitories. They saw Cassandra ahead of them, putting her books into her bag but what she didn't see was Malfoy creeping up behind her, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering silently behind him. He pulled his wand out and placed it right behind her head. Harry and Hermione exchanged worried looks and Ron looked absolutely bewildered. There was nothing they could have done as Malfoy quickly pulled his wand back and bellowed his curse.  
  
"Comarious!" The blinding white light flew the short distance from Malfoy's wand to the back of Cassandra's head. The light surrounded her before she was sent hurtling forward, not even uttering a cry of surprise. The entire hall stopped to watch in amazement as she continued to soar through the air and straight into the suit of armor across the hall. She landed with a crash, her books and parchment flaying out everywhere. The suit of armor fell apart and let out a resounding "Ow!" before all was silent in the hall except the laughter and jeers of Malfoy and his two thugs.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione were the closest to the armor and Cassandra. They hurried forward and saw that she was knocked unconscious, a small cut forming on her forehead.  
  
"What's going on here?" a voice asked from the top of the staircase. Harry looked up quickly and his mouth fell open as Remus Lupin walked down the stairs toward them, his wand wielded and a grim expression on his face.  
  
"It was that boy over there," a first year explained pointing to Malfoy who didn't dare move, "he hexed the girl over there."  
  
Lupin nodded his head to the little boy and walked over to Malfoy who was looking at Lupin as if he remembered him from somewhere. "Do you have an explanation for this?" Lupin asked Malfoy who looked at Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"Aren't you the professor from our third year? The one who was a werewolf?" Malfoy blurted out sending the hall into a frenzy with the exception of the older students.  
  
"No, I am not. But perhaps you are talking about my twin brother Remus Lupin? Now, I will ask you again. Did you have an explanation for this?" Lupin's brother asked Malfoy as he pointed towards Cassandra who was still lying among the body armor.  
  
"Well Professor Lupin," Malfoy began spitting out 'professor' as if it were a dirty name, "she attacked me first. I was merely protecting myself."  
  
"Really now? What's your name and what is your house?" Professor Lupin asked his voice gravely serious.  
  
"Draco Malfoy, Slytherin."  
  
"Well Mr. Malfoy from Slytherin, if she did, in fact, attack you I am sure that all the students in this hall are witnesses to this attack and they will therefore back you up in your story." Lupin explained. He looked around at all the students and shrugged his shoulders. "Do any of you wish to defend Mr. Malfoy's statement?" No one came forward. Not even Crabbe and Goyle. "Well then Mr. Malfoy. I believe we'll take twenty points away from Slytherin and you'll serve detention with me a week from today. I'll see you in class." Professor Lupin explained before he turned his back to Malfoy and walked over to where Cassandra was still unconscious.  
  
"Y-You're Remus Lupin's brother?" Harry asked incredulously as the man kneeled down to inspect Cassandra.  
  
"You must be Harry! Yes I am Remus Lupin's brother. Romulus Lupin if you please," Romulus Lupin said sticking his hand out. Harry shook it vigorously and he then introduced him to Ron and Hermione. "Did you happen to hear the curse Mr. Malfoy used on Miss White?"  
  
"He said something like 'Comarious' it sounds vaguely familiar but I just can't place it," Hermione explained her brow furrowing in confusion.  
  
"I see. Well, lets get her to the Hospital Wing straight away. I believe she'll be unconscious for the next day or so," Professor Romulus Lupin began. He, along with Harry and Ron, began to move Cassandra off the armor. Hermione gasped in wonderment as Cassandra's eyes flew open and she jumped to her feet.  
  
"Where the hell is that ruddy bastard? I'll curse him the damn fool!" she roared as she looked around for Malfoy, scaring some third year girls in the process.  
  
"Relax Miss White. I have already taken points off from Mr. Malfoy and he will be serving a detention with me in a week's time. I suggest we take you to the hospital wing." Professor Lupin advised as Cassandra began to pick up her books.  
  
"No. I'm fine. I don't need to go to the hospital wing," she said as she slammed her books into her bag. "But Malfoy will when I'm through with him!"  
  
"I recommend that you do not go after Mr. Malfoy. After all, after your stint with Professor Snape yesterday I feel that you should steer clear of the Slytherins for a while," Professor Lupin explained giving her a look a scolding father would give a daughter.  
  
"Fine Ro.Professor Lupin. Fine," Cassandra stammered before she headed towards the staircase. "Aren't you four coming? If I stand correct Professor Lupin you have a class to teach." Cassandra said with a tiny laugh. Professor Lupin smiled and he started up the stairs, Harry, Ron and Hermione following pursuit.  
  
When the five entered the classroom many of the Gryffindors rushed forward to ask Cassandra about her attack.  
  
"Did you feel anything when you ran into the armor?"  
  
"Are you going to hex Malfoy?"  
  
"Did you know he was behind you?"  
  
Someone cleared their voice rather loudly and everyone stopped asking questions as they stared at their new professor, now sitting behind his desk. "If you all could take your seats, we can begin class."  
  
Everyone scrambled to get a seat near the front as the professor rose to his feet and addressed the class. "My name is Professor Romulus Lupin and I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. Many of you probably remember a particular wizard with the same surname as my own. If you haven't heard already, Remus Lupin is my twin brother."  
  
Dean Thomas immediately raised his hand ready to impose a question. "Yes. . . Mr. Thomas?" Professor Lupin asked looking down at his roll call parchment.  
  
"Um. . . Professor, sir. A-are you a."  
  
"A werewolf?" Professor Lupin asked the same question burning in everyone's mind.  
  
"Yes sir. Are you a werewolf?"  
  
"No. I am not a werewolf. My brother was unfortunate enough to be bitten by a werewolf when he was young. But I was not inflicted whatsoever." Professor Lupin explained and Harry could hear everyone let out a breath of relief. "Now, as I understand your last teacher failed to teach you about the more advanced evil creatures last year due to the fact she was, how shall I put this, a bit of spy for the Ministry?" Everyone aside from Cassandra and Lupin smiled.  
  
"I see. Well then, for the first month we'll review these dangerous creatures before we have a small exam over them. Then we'll get into the more advanced curses and hexes." Lupin explained before he magically distributed the books they were scheduled to get last year if it had not been for Professor Umbridge. "If you could open your books to page eight we will begin with Gobertails."  
  
The sixth years spent the rest of the hour reading about Gobertails and learning the spells to draw the beasts away from them if they were ever attacked. Gobertails were like enormous crocodiles except they had the tail of an elephant, the body of a weasel, the long and winding neck of a giraffe, and finally a nearly six foot long crocodile head with two foot long teeth. They mostly lived in swamps and moors and would attract their prey with their unusual singing talents.  
  
Near the end of the lesson, Professor Lupin brought out a large fifteen foot tank into the middle of the classroom, covered with a long cloth. The class watched in wonderment as he pulled off the cloak and there was a real life Gobertail swimming around in the tank. The Gobertail immediately started to sing its song and Harry realized that it didn't have any teeth before he felt like a wave of peacefulness covered him. He liked the Gobertail's song. He liked it so much he would have loved to join him and sing along.  
  
"Gobtailquietous," a voice said calmly through the veil in Harry's mind. The singing stopped and Harry wanted to yell in protest. And then, almost as quickly as it had came, the veil slipped away from his mind and he was staring at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He saw that Neville Longbottom was trying to claw his way up to the tank and he saw Hermione carrying a chair to help her to get into the tank with the Gobertail. She blinked around stupidly, flushed pink from embarrassment before she put the chair back and sat down next to Ron.  
  
"As you can see, the Gobertail's song is extremely powerful and can even attract a person to him even if he is an inch from going completely deaf. Twenty points to Gryffindor and an extra twenty to Miss White for not falling underneath the Gobertail's spell," Professor Lupin explained the Gryffindors looking extremely happy. Everyone looked around wildly to see where Cassandra was and they found her sitting quietly in her seat looking around absentmindedly. "Cassandra!" Professor Lupin barked and it was only when Cassandra looked at Professor Lupin and saw him addressing her did she raise her wand and point it to herself.  
  
"Sorry Professor. Couldn't hear you. I went a bit deaf back there," she said with a big grin. Professor Lupin chuckled and covered the Gobertail up with the cloth. The students took their seats and Hermione looked over at Cassandra a jealous expression on her face. Harry smiled to himself before Lupin assigned their homework, (one parchment on what it felt like to be under the Gobertail's spell, with the exception of Cassandra) and they were on their way.  
  
As they made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower, Hermione pulled Ron and Harry back, Cassandra hurrying up to the tower with Paravati and Lavender.  
  
"I just remembered where I read about the Comarious Curse!" Hermione said in a happy voice.  
  
"Oh . . . we can only hope that you would be here to save the day," Ron said sarcastically. Hermione shot him a disgusted look before she looked at them, her eyes growing serious.  
  
"The Comarious Curse puts the person who was cursed into a deep sleep, almost like a coma. It can be treated though. If medicated, the person will wake up in a day or so. But if they aren't medicated there's no telling when they'll wake up."  
  
"What's the point Hermione?" Ron said growing agitated.  
  
"The point is," Hermione said dramatically, "the point is Cassandra wasn't even medicated and yet she woke up in less than five minutes. Don't you find that odd it was almost like she wasn't infected by it at all?"  
  
"Maybe Malfoy just missed or something Hermione," Harry suggested, "And she didn't get the full blow of it."  
  
"Miss? Miss? His wand was an inch away from her head when he caused that curse! He couldn't have missed her or I'm the thickest witch at Hogwarts," Hermione exclaimed as if he and Ron were daft. Harry and Ron, knowing full well that Hermione wasn't the dumbest witch at Hogwarts only nodded silently as they made their way through the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
Once they were inside they heard someone give a shriek by the post board that announced all the social things happening in Hogwarts from the Hogsmeade visits to the Quidditch tryouts. Looking around the corner, Harry noticed it was Cassandra who had yelled loudly, gazing at a scarlet paper that hung in the middle of the post board.  
  
"I'm going for it!" He heard her say before she headed up to the girls' dormitory. Harry and Ron hurried forward and looked at the announcement.  
  
"QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS!"  
  
"TO BE HELD ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH!"  
"Please write out position you will be trying out for"  
  
Chasers: Ginny Weasly, Dean, Thomas, Seamus Finnigan.  
Beaters: Cassandra White.  
  
From your Quidditch Captain: Katie Bell.  
  
Harry and Ron were ecstatic that they would actually have people trying out for their Quidditch team this year.  
  
"But we only have one person signing up for a Beater!" Ron exclaimed but then he stopped short. "Oh. . .I don't ruddy believe it!"  
  
And Harry saw the tiny writing that came before Cassandra's name. 'Neville Longbottom.'  
  
In Harry's eyes, the seventh didn't seem to come quick enough. The teachers loaded the sixth year students down with homework and their first weekend back to Hogwarts wasn't the most enjoyable. Snape was exceptionally mean when the Gryffindors came into his classroom that Friday. He gave a satisfied grin when he saw their faces of complaint when he assigned them two pieces of parchment about the Polyjuice Potion, its dangers and some of its uses. Harry, Ron and Hermione saw this as not a problem since they had made the potion their second year to find out if Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin.  
  
But the day finally came and immediately after dinner, Harry and Ron made their way out to the Quidditch pitch to watch the tryouts and to play a small game to see the teamwork with each of the Gryffindor Team hopefuls.  
  
Once they reached the pitch they saw that Ginny and Cassandra were already up in the air, Cassie beating a Quaffle to Ginny who caught it wonderfully and chucked it into one of the goal posts. Dean and Seamus were cheering loudly and Neville stood by a broom from the broom shed, a look of positive terror on his face.  
  
Harry and Ron mounted their brooms and began to warm up a bit before Katie Bell, now in her seventh and final year at Hogwarts came out to begin the tryouts. Ron was in front of the goal posts, protecting them from Ginny, Dean, and Seamus who had now taken the field. Harry watched as Cassandra flew down to the ground to Neville. He watched as they talked for a bit before Neville finally mounted his broom and took off, wobbly at first, but he finally gained his balance and was soon smacking a second Quaffle back and forth with Cassandra.  
  
"Pack it in people! We're starting the tryouts!" Katie Bell shouted from the ground. Everyone stopped what they were doing and flew to the ground, surrounding the Quidditch Captain. Neville gave Ginny a nervous look, but she looked collected as she and Cassandra laughed about a joke Dean had just told. Katie shot them a look before she began her speech.  
  
"We're going to start with Chasers first. I'll go up with you. We'll play two against two and then I want to see how each of you deal up against Ron. Let's get to it," Katie said and then she blew into her whistle and she, Dean, Seamus and Ginny took up to the air, Ron handing Katie the Quaffle.  
  
The grouped played for at least fifteen minutes. Ginny and Katie on one team, Seamus and Dean on the other. Harry couldn't help but marvel at Ginny and Dean's skills as they tried to get the Quaffle to either side of the pitch. Soon Katie called Ron up and each of the hopefuls tried to get the Quaffle through the hoops. Ginny and Seamus managed to get a few in while Dean only got about three. Katie called an end to the Chaser tryouts before she called up the Beaters.  
  
"I'm going to send the Bludger up and I'll take the Quaffle, try to keep the bludger away from me. Harry watched Cassandra nod before Ron walked forward and unleashed the struggling bludger into the air.  
  
The black ball headed straight for Katie and would have hit her if Cassandra hadn't flown in front of her, smacking the bludger with all her might in the opposite direction.  
  
"Nice hit Cassandra," Katie complimented as she zoomed around in a circle waiting for the bludger to come back. "You hit this one next Neville." Neville gulped down the lump in his throat when he saw the bludger coming back for Katie. He teetered forward reluctantly but he wasn't teetering fast enough for the bludger because it went past Neville and went straight for Katie. Cassandra flew in its path again and smacked the bludger once more, sending it farther than she had hit it the first time. "Come on Neville, next time be there!" Katie exclaimed and Harry saw Neville turn pink. The third time the bludger came back, Neville flew in front of Katie at all times and when the bludger came toward him he hit it in a moderate tone and sent it at least five feet away from Katie. "God show Neville!" Katie said and if possible, Neville blushed even more. Soon they were playing a full game, four on four, Cassandra and Neville hitting around Quaffles that had been bewitched to float around so they didn't cause damage to any of the players.  
  
"Wonderful scrimmage everybody! The positions will be posted in the common room tomorrow morning. Hit the showers," Katie said to her equally tired team members.  
  
"That was so much fun! I hope I made it!" Cassandra exclaimed happily as she bounded up to the castle, the practice seemed didn't seem to take any energy out of her whatsoever.  
  
"I wouldn't doubt it Cassie," Ron said, "You'd give Fred and George a run for their money."  
  
"Fred and George?" Cassandra inquired.  
  
"My twin older brothers. They were on the team before they left last year. Some of the best ruddy beaters Gryffindor ever had," Ron explained. "But I'm sure you'll get it."  
  
And sure enough the following Monday morning a loud shriek penetrated through the common room. Harry and Ron hurried downstairs, fixing their robes quickly. They saw Cassandra and Ginny dancing around the common room singing at the top of their lungs.  
  
"We got in! We got in! We got in!"  
  
Harry and Ron went to inspect the new Gryffindor team and saw that Dean and Ginny were the two new chasers and Cassandra and to Harry's surprise, Neville were named as the new beaters.  
  
"This is going to be an interesting season," Ron muttered to Harry. 


	8. Nightmare Frights

Well, after much consideration, I have decided to continue the story. Big thanks goes out to Snivellus. Thank you for believing in the things I can accomplish. Your review was worth twenty! ( And thank you to everyone so far who has read and reviewed my story. You all do not know how much I appreciate that people actually take the time to read the stories I write. Thank you all so very, very much!  
  
And seriously . . . all of you should check out United Enemies by Snivellus because it's ruddy brilliant and there's just so much suspense in it! Plus it's just absolutely awesome the way she portrays the characters and such. An interesting read for everybody! Four stars for the whole family!  
  
Oh yea.I almost forgot. Update! Hee hee. (Can you believe I'm on chapter eight? Lordy this is the fastest I've ever written!)  
  
8. Nightmare Frights  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Cassandra were starting to feel the pressure as the summer months started to fade away, fall finally in full swing. Not only did Ron, Harry, and Cassandra have Quidditch practice three times a week, but their professors saw fit to give them enormous amounts of homework every night. Hermione sometimes even let Harry and Ron copy off her homework even though she looked down upon it in the past.  
  
And to make matters worse, Harry was suffering from lack of sleep and he suffered greatly for it in his classes. Harry would wake up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely, his scar hurting slightly but not as much as it had been when he dreamt about Voldemort and his never ending quest for the Black Diamond when Harry was at Grimmauld Place.  
  
"You look terrible," Hermione said in a sympathetic voice when Harry made his way down to the common room one Saturday morning. "Did you not get enough sleep?"  
  
Harry knew he couldn't tell Hermione about his latest dream. Harry frowned inwardly as he thought of her reaction. 'You dreamt about that diamond again, Harry? Oh you should go tell Professor Dumbledore immediately. It could be important!'  
  
"Yea.I didn't get enough sleep. I kept thinking about the Transfiguration exam we're going to have on Monday," Harry explained trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.  
  
"I'm not that worried about it. Turning needles into chairs seems a bit hard, but its really simple believe me," Hermione said trying to convince Harry that he would pass with full marks.  
  
"Harry come here! McGonagall put up the Hogsmeade visits!" Ron yelled over from the post board. "The first one is a week before Halloween!"  
  
"We have to wait that long?" Harry moaned. The sooner they could get out and not have to worry about homework and nightmares the better. Harry hated to think it, but if he didn't get out of Hogwarts and away from the mountains of homework he would go stark raving mad.  
  
"We could always go a bit early," Ron said with a mischievous wink. Harry smiled knowing exactly what Ron meant. With Harry's enchanted map of Hogwarts, handed down to him from Fred and George Weasly, and his father's invisibility cloak, they could leave the castle and head down to Hogsmeade any time they pleased.  
  
"Absolutely not Ron!" Hermione gasped as she hurried up to them. "You are a Hogwart's prefect and breaking the rules and setting a bad example for the younger students isn't smart. You could get your badge taken away!"  
  
"They won't take my badge away if they don't find out!" Ron pointed out lowering his voice as more students stumbled down the stairs and into the common room, trying to rub the sleep from their eyes.  
  
"I forbid you to do it! If you go, I-I'll tell Professor McGonagall," Hermione stammered out turning her face away quickly, not wanting to look into Ron's bamboozled face.  
  
"Fine. I guess we'll just rot away in this school doing nothing but work. . ." Ron was about to continue his ranting when someone stumbled down the stairs and fell in a heap at the ground.  
  
Everyone in the common room stopped to watch as an extremely sleepy figure rose from her position at the base of the girls' dormitory steps. Still dressed in a small tank top and blue pajama bottoms with designs of broomsticks zooming around, Cassandra White got to her feet and tossed her hair out of her eyes. And Harry wished her hair had stayed in front of them because not only were her eyes red and puffy, but there were enormous black rings underneath her eyes.  
  
"Harry, I retract my statement. Next to Cassandra you look like Mary Sunshine," Hermione whispered and he had to stifle a snicker.  
  
"What happen to you?" Ron asked Cassandra as she sat down at one of the tables, putting her head in her hands.  
  
"Detention. Snape. If you value your life you will not ask questions," Cassandra muttered blandly.  
  
"We were never like that after detentions with Snape," Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione.  
  
"But Snape doesn't hate us as much as he hates Cassie," Ron pointed out as a few light snores were heard in Cassie's direction. He probably worked her within an inch from death if she's that tired." Harry nodded knowing that Cassandra's energy level rivaled Fred and George's.  
  
"We still have that potion homework to finish. I suggest we get started," Hermione said taking their mind off the passed out student.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry found himself in an old parlor room that he had seen in a dream two years ago. A large fire roared in an ancient, musty fire place. Seeing as it was the only source of light, long eerie shadows were thrown against the walls, creating a bone chilling atmosphere. He saw an old armchair set up in front of the fire, about fifteen equally old and musty armchairs, were placed side by side the large armchair, almost creating a horseshoe.  
  
It took Harry a moment to realize that about seven of these chairs were filled up, eight were empty, and the dust had settled over them, as if protecting the chairs until their owners would return. Harry saw Bellatrix Lestrange, the horrible creature, sitting on the right side of the blood red armchair, a nervous look on her face. 'If this isn't a dream,' Harry thought to himself as he walked toward Lestrange, 'I'll kill her. I'll strangle her to death.' Harry was just about to do this when a small, high pitched chuckle came from the old armchair. Harry looked at the back of it and felt his scar burning horribly. He put his hand to his head and pressed against his cursed scar trying to squeeze the pain out of it.  
  
"Well then, after Wormtail's pitiful attempts to find the Black Diamond I have decided to appoint the proposition to all of my faithful servants," Lord Voldemort explained his cold, chilling voice turning the blood in Harry's veins to ice.  
  
"What is this proposition, My Lord?" Lestrange asked trying her best to put a brave face forward but it failed.  
  
"The Black Diamond is an important item that I must have in order for us to get Dumbledore and his meddlesome fools out of the way. Wormtail has been trying to find the Diamond all summer but of course, being the pathetic, worthless being that he is, he failed miserably."  
  
"F-forgive . . .me, my Master. I-I-I never m-meant to f-f-fail you. My loyalties for you My Lord, never d-d-diminished," Wormtail stammered horribly. Harry saw the murderous traitor who had sold his parents out to Voldemort sitting on Voldemort's left hand side. He seemed to have been losing what remained of his hair and his face had an extremely pallid color.  
  
"I've had quite enough of your groveling Wormtail. Crucio," Voldemort said in a careless voice. Harry watched thunderstruck as Wormtail fell to his knees, screaming at the top of his lungs as his body went rigid from the pain. Voldemort chuckled slightly and the rest of the Death Eaters followed as Wormtail withered in pain. The spell was lifted and Wormtail whimpered and moaned in pain as he rolled around in pain. Voldemort stood up and kicked his 'faithful servant' in the stomach. "Get up filth."  
  
"Y-y-yes master. O-of c-c-course master," Wormtail sobbed as he sat back up in his chair. Voldemort sneered and shook his head.  
  
"As I was saying, the Black Diamond is crucial for putting a stop to Dumbledore and his antics. If we do not find it soon, the Mudblood loving fool will soon find out we are seeking it. The Diamond must be found immediately. When one of my faithful Death Eaters brings it back to me they will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. Lestrange and I'm sure Malfoy if he was here with us, I have a feeling that you know about the Black Diamond?" Voldemort explained turning his attention towards the tall, stringy black haired Death Eater.  
  
"Yes Master."  
  
"And after your horrible attempts to retrieve me my prophecy a month ago I expect that you will find me this Black Diamond before all the others?" Lord Voldemort asked his lips curling back into a sneer.  
  
"But, Master. It is impossible," Lestrange said bravely. Harry shook his head. Wrong answer.  
  
"Crucio," Voldemort said without warning, pointing his wand towards Lestrange. As in the same manner of Wormtail, Lestrange fell to the ground withering in pain. Once the curse subsided, Voldemort got up and looked down at Lestrange, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "You have been faithful to me Bellatrix and yet, you tell me it is impossible that the Black Diamond cannot be recovered? That is the same response Wormtail gave to me not too long ago and look what I did to him. I'm surprised that you haven't learned by now that nothing is impossible when you are under the command of Lord Voldemort, the most powerful sorcerer in the world."  
  
"Yes Master," Bellatrix managed to gasp out.  
  
"And now, we'll discuss where and when our next attack on the Mudbloods will be," Voldemort said dismissing the Black Diamond issue as if it weren't important. Voldemort turned around and faced Harry, and smiled. "Ah, Nagini you're back." And that's when Harry's head felt like it was going to blow up. The pain unbearable he let out an ear splitting yell and shook his head violently trying to shake the pain away.  
  
"Harry!" Voldemort hissed out as he advanced towards him, Harry cowering in fear. Voldemort had seen him in his father's house and now he was going to be killed for spying.  
  
"No," Harry said his voice panicked as he backed away from Voldemort.  
  
"Harry, stop!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"HARRY POTTER LISTEN TO ME!" he bellowed. "WAKE UP!"  
  
"What?" Harry questioned looking confused. Harry was awake, how could he wake up?  
  
"Avada Kadavra," Voldemort hissed as he pulled back his wand.  
  
"NOOOOO!" Harry screamed before something rather solid smacked him in the face.  
  
Harry's eye's shot open and he found himself laying back in his four poster bed in the Gryffindor dormitory that he shared with his fellow sixth year chums.  
  
"Harry!" someone shouted over him and Harry's eyes focused on red hair and a stark white face that made the freckles jump out like huge spots. Ron Wealsy was directly above Harry, both hands on Harry's shoulders gripping them tightly. Harry looked around the room and saw that Dean, Seamus and Neville were all staring at him, their faces almost as white as Ron's.  
  
"What happened?" Harry asked groggily. He was dripping with sweat and he was clutching his scar with his right hand, his left hand protecting his face from his attacker.  
  
"You had another dream again Harry. You were screaming about," Ron began but then he lowered his voice, "the Black Diamond." Harry shrugged Ron's hands off his shoulders and sat up in bed. "I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't woken up the whole ruddy Tower."  
  
Sure enough, Hermione burst through the door in her pink bathrobe, and a pair of fluffy slippers, Ginny and Cassandra following right behind her.  
  
"What's going on in here? Everyone's looking out their doors to see what's causing the entire ruckus. It took me a while to convince everybody that someone let off one of Fred and George's Fake Howlers before they finally went back to bed," Hermione said rather breathlessly as she walked up to Harry's bed.  
  
"I think we should go into the common room," Harry muttered before he got out of his bed, putting his robe over his pajamas. After convincing Harry's roommates that everything was alright, the five of them headed downstairs and sat in a small group around the diminishing Gryffindor common room fire.  
  
"What happened?" Hermione asked once they were all seated on the plush rug all staring at Harry rather intently.  
  
Harry quickly relayed everything that had happened in his dream, describing how Voldemort tortured two of his most faithful Death Eaters. "And to make matters worse, he's having all the Death Eaters going off after this Black Diamond," Harry finished as he rubbed his scar, the pain diminishing.  
  
"You really need to tell Dumbledore, Harry. Straightaway in fact. You should do that first thing in the morning," Hermione exclaimed looking shocked that Harry hadn't thought of it sooner.  
  
"It's not important Hermione. I can decide when its good enough to tell Professor Dumbledore about things. Besides, I don't even know if these dreams are true," Harry countered.  
  
"Please Harry; stop trying to be so damn noble. You had those dreams last year, about the snake attacking Ron's dad and him sending you the dream of Sirius in the Department of Mysteries last term. This is getting really serious. I think you should still tell Dumbledore and I think you should start your Occlumency lessons with Snape again," Hermione argued.  
  
"Over my dead body will I let that . . . that sorry excuse for a professor teach me Occlumency lessons again, not after what he did to Sirius," Harry said his voice dangerously low.  
  
"You know what, fine. I'm staying out of it Harry. But if that Blue Diamond or whatever it is gets into the wrong hands, you'll have to live with the fact that you could have stopped it." Hermione said before she looked over at Cassandra and gave her a concerned look. "What's wrong Cassandra?"  
  
If Cassandra could have been even paler she could have been mistaken for a ghost. Her face was a deadly white and her eyes were wide with shock. It was only when Hermione reached over and shook her violently, almost sending her over onto Ron, did she seem to break out of her stupor.  
  
"Alright there Cassandra?" Hermione asked. Cassandra nodded her head slightly and blinked viciously before the color came back to her face. "Cassandra? What's wrong?"  
  
"What? Oh it's nothing. I'm just extremely tired. Haven't slept in nearly two days and I'm just extremely fried. I think I'll go to bed. Yeah . . . yeah that's good. I'll go to bed." Cassandra said as she got to her feet and walked towards the girls' dormitories.  
  
"Wow. She looks beat," Ron whistled before they all decided that the discussion, which had gone on for nearly an hour, and had ended at around five o' clock, was over. As everyone bade each other goodnight Harry thought back to Cassandra's shocked look during the recollection of his dream. For some reason, Harry thought that lack of sleep wasn't the only reason why Cassandra was extremely tired. 


	9. Hogsmeade

Thank God! I don't know if it's been happening to you guys, but for the past like three days I haven't been able to get onto the site! And it was driving me crazy because I have two chapters done and I'm on Chapter Eleven as we speak! Woo hoo! Okay then…lets get ready to rumble!  
  
Thank you to all who reviewed so far! You guys are the greatest!  
  
Potter Twins: Thanks for the review! I cannot wait until you update your story! It is exceptional!  
  
Snivellus: As usual your updates are amazing! They mean the world to me! I thought my portrayal of Voldemort was a bit cheesy if you ask me, but hey what do I know? Lol!  
  
Thank you for the reviews and for all of you phantom readers out there (what I like to call the people who read but don't review! Lol) Don't be shy, I won't bite just leave a lil reply and you'll be my new best friend!  
  
9. Hogsmeade  
  
The weekend before Halloween was dawning nearer and all of the students above third year were anxiously awaiting the trip to Hogsmeade. Even the teachers were getting excited towards the end of the week seeing as Professor Dumbledore had instructed that all of the teachers would patrol Hogsmeade to keep the students safe and out of mischief.  
  
Harry and Ron were counting down the hours on Friday in Professor Trelawney's Divination class that evening the batty old fraud explaining that she would be watching them all in Hogsmeade through her crystal ball.  
  
"When one sees," she explained as she put a hand on her crystal ball, "there is no need for them to leave the comforts of their surroundings to muse with other people without the Sight."  
  
"No," Cassandra murmured so only Ron and Harry could hear, "one would call that anti-social." Harry and Ron sniggered and Professor Trelawney gave them a serious look. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil throwing them looks of disgust.  
  
"Only twenty more minutes of this bat and then its Hogsmeade all day tomorrow," Ron exulted as they pretended to read through chapter two of their book, 'Horoscopes and how to Make Sense of Them.'  
  
"Have fun," Cassandra said dismally as she tapped the crystal ball to her left. "I'll be stuck here."  
  
"Why can't you go?" Harry asked before he gave up on reading and closed his book. Trelawney was busy talking to Lavender and Parvati about why Scorpio and Virgo didn't get along.  
  
"Well nobody's signed my permission slip so I'm stuck here."  
  
"Go talk to Professor McGonagall, I'm sure she'll let you go," Ron said before he followed Harry and closed his book, going so far as to put it back into his bag.  
  
"Already have. She told me 'No permission form Miss White, no Hogsmeade,'" Cassandra complained doing a dead on impression of Professor McGonagall's no nonsense tone.  
  
"Well Harry couldn't go to Hogsmeade in his third year, but he did anyway," Ron explained throwing Harry a heavy wink.  
  
"How, didn't you get into trouble?"  
  
"Not if you don't know where to go," Harry said a smirk etching onto his face. "We can help you there."  
  
"Sure, oh shoot I can't go," Cassandra said in a loud whisper smacking her forehead.  
  
"Why? It's really easy," said Ron in a persuasive tone.  
  
"I have detention with Snape," Cassandra replied before she stuck her nose in her Divination book.  
  
"Again? Cassie this is like the third one in two months. I can understand that one time when you put the boomslang in Malfoy's cauldron on purpose, pure genius I might add, but you haven't done anything else," Ron cried out rather loudly as the noise level in the room went down, Professor Trelawney looking up through her oversized glasses.  
  
"I keep giving him 'cheek' as he likes to call it. Says he needs to break me of the habit or 'I'll get nowhere in life if I keep disrespecting my elders.'" Cassandra explained simply before the end of class bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end of classes for the day and the beginning of dinner.  
  
"Write half a parchment on the characteristics of your Zodiac sign. Oh and Mr. Longbottom dear, do be careful in Hogsmeade tomorrow I fear you'll get a stomach ache at the Three Broomsticks," Professor Trelawney announced as the class shuffled towards the silver step ladder in the floor.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Harry! Harry wait!" a voice yelled out. It was coming a few feet behind him. Harry turned around and saw Hermione running towards him, bushy hair flopping around wildly. "Thank goodness I caught up to you!" Hermione exclaimed breathlessly. Harry noticed that Cassandra and Ron had stopped and were a few inches behind him. "I just got done talking to Professor Dumbledore. He agrees with me that you should take up Occlumency lessons with Snape again. You're going to see him tomorrow night after dinner!" Hermione said happily as if this were the best idea in the world.  
  
Harry stared at her stupidly and he could hear Ron grumbling underneath his breath behind him. "I already told you Hermione. I do not want him teaching me anything. Its bad enough I have to put up with him in potions! But to have to spend time with him outside of class? Its absurd and I won't do it!" Harry said his voice rising, temper mounting.  
  
"Harry please this is for the best. You need to learn to block Voldemort out of your dreams. He might even be able to possess you! Please just try Harry. I'm sure Sirius would have wanted you to do it," Hermione pleaded.  
  
"You leave Sirius out of this, Hermione! Sirius hated Snape you know that and I'm sure he wouldn't want that slime ball to teach me potions let alone Occlumency lessons!" Harry yelled out making Hermione flinch a bit.  
  
"Well I'm sure Sirius wouldn't want his only godson, the closest he's ever had to a child, to be hurt or, god forbid, killed. You'll be doing a favor to yourself and everyone else by keeping Voldemort out. Do it for Sirius, Harry," Hermione beseeched her eyes brimming with tears.  
  
A brief vision of Sirius falling through the veil, that shocked and fearful look stuck on his handsome face reverberating through his mind. Harry shook his head and the vision of the corridor, Hermione in front of him came back to him quickly. "Fine. But I'm only doing it for Sirius." Hermione beamed.  
  
"Wonderful! Let's head down to dinner, I'm starving!" Hermione exclaimed happily as the four of them walked down to dinner. All of them laughing about Honeydukes and all of the amazing candies and sweets inside, all except Cassandra who was walking silently besides them.  
  
*~*~*  
  
The next day dawned bright and clear, the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall sunny and cloudless as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny entered, wearing their Gryffindor scarves and cloaks. Even though it wasn't that cold outside, there was a brisk, autumn wind that blew across the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade. Hermione explained that Cassandra was still sleeping when she left their room that morning.  
  
"It was a bit odd really," Hermione explained before taking a big gulp of her pumpkin juice, "I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard her get out of bed and leave the room. I thought nothing of it really, I just thought she had to run to the privy but she didn't turn up for almost two hours. I stayed awake, debating whether or not to get up and find her but she came back into the room. I could hear her sniffling a bit, almost like she had been crying for quite some time. The thought crossed me that she was upset over her mark in that potion test we had on Wednesday but I'm not sure. As I was leaving I saw her clutching her chest as if it was hurting her but then again she was sleeping…"  
  
"Hermione why don't you put a sock in it for a bit I want to enjoy a quiet breakfast," Ron said shortly as he spread butter over his toast. Hermione gave him an angry look before she went back to eating her eggs.  
  
Twenty minutes later the four of them were crossing the Hogwart's grounds, heading towards the only all magic town in Great Britain, Hogsmeade. The group proceeded to the candy store Honeydukes where they stocked their supplies of sugar quills, exploding bonbons, Fizzing Whizbees, and some Bernie Botts Every Flavored Beans.  
  
Harry wished the day would never end as they left Zonko's stocked with Dungbombs, Frog Spawn Soap, and even one of Fred and George's fake wands they had sold to Zonko's before they opened their joke shop in Diagon Alley. Harry knew that in a few hours he would be going back to the castle to have dinner and then it was the dreaded Occlumency lesson with Snape. Harry admitted that he was still a bit mad at Hermione for going off to schedule his lessons without his permission but he knew she meant her intentions to be good.  
  
Ginny said goodbye to them at around noon as they stopped into the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer and a bit of lunch. Harry paid for their second round of butterbeers and their dessert of treacle tarts his money bag considerably lighter.  
  
"Only a few days left and the Quidditch season begins!" Ron rejoiced as he took a large swig of his butterbeer. Harry beamed at him as he took another sip of his drink, feeling the warmth spread around him.  
  
"I'm assuming practices have been running smoothly?" Hermione asked, leaning back in her chair and waving to a prefect from another house.  
  
"Extremely smooth," Ron commented, "although I don't know what Katie was thinking when she made Neville a beater."  
  
"I'm sure he's not that bad," Hermione exclaimed furrowing her brow at Ron.  
  
"He just needs to learn that he needs to hit the bludger and not fly away from it."  
  
"Well you were a horrible keeper at the beginning of the season last term and you got better towards the end," Hermione pointed out. Ron's ears went pink.  
  
"Jeez, thanks Hermione," Ron muttered before he became interested in the marks in the wooden table.  
  
"What about Cassie? Is she good?"  
  
"She's smashing!" Ron raved, "She has a Nimbus Two Thousand which isn't that bad but they just came out with the Nimbus Two Thousand Threes and they're almost as good as the Firebolt." Harry nodded thinking back to his own Nimbus Two Thousand which was ripped to splinters by the Whomping Willow in his third year. "Just as good as Fred and George. Maybe as good as them put together!"  
  
"I see. Well, what do you say we head over to Gladrags and see what kind of things they have in there. I'd fancy a new scarf," Hermione said as she put a sickle on the table for a tip. Harry followed and put down two and Ron put down two Knuts.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione got back to Hogwarts about an hour before dinner so they could get started on some of their homework for the weekend. Cassandra was nowhere to be found in the common room or in her dormitory when Hermione went to check before they went down to dinner.  
  
They were all surprised to find that Cassandra didn't even show up for dinner and all three of them knew she wasn't one to skip dinner. After they had filled themselves with as much food as they possibly could, Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione before he headed towards the dungeons and Snape's office where his Occlumency lesson would be starting.  
  
He neared Snape's office and was about to knock on the door when he heard voices coming from inside. From what Harry could tell there were two people inside Snape's horrendous office. And they were both laughing! Harry could make out a female voice and then Snape's voice, but Snape didn't know how to laugh like a normal human, did he? He only knew how to smirk and sneer at his students who goofed up on their experiments.  
  
"Thank you so much for the potion Professor Snape, I felt like I was going to explode last night," the female voice exclaimed nearing the door.  
  
"So long as you don't get used to it, I won't always be there to mix up that potion in the middle of the night." Snape said his voice back to its silky and sulking ways.  
  
"Well the pain's certainly gone down since last night."  
  
"Did anybody hear you leave?" Snape asked and Harry could have sworn he heard the man chuckle.  
  
"I don't believe so Professor. It's not like they could have done anything to me anyway."  
  
"Yes, well you best get going, Potter's due for his Occlumency lesson right about now." Snape explained and Harry could almost imagine the man checking his watch.  
  
"Sure thing Professor and thank you again," the female exclaimed gratefully her voice sounded vaguely familiar.  
  
"Your welcome."  
  
And suddenly the door opened in front of Harry's face. Making sure he was well hidden from Professor Snape when the door opened. Harry gasped in astonishment when he came face to face with Cassandra White, a shocked expression registerd on her face. 


	10. Midnight Marauders

10. Midnight Marauders  
  
"Harry?" Cassandra whispered as she closed Snape's office door quickly behind her. Her face went extremely pale before she grabbed his arm and led him down the hallway, away from Snape's office.  
  
"Cassie? What . . . what was that about?" Harry managed to stammer in surprise as he turned to face her. Harry knew for a fact that she wasn't in there for detentions if Snape was making her potions.  
  
"Look Harry, you have to swear not to tell anyone please?" Cassandra begged her blue eyes pleading furiously. "Not even Ron or Hermione please Harry."  
  
"What am I not supposed to tell them? Would you tell me what's going on?" Harry asked as Cassandra turned away from him and leaned her head back, rubbing her face with her hands before letting out a small shriek of frustration.  
  
"For the past couple of times I've said I've had detention with Snape, I haven't been completely honest. He's been making me potions because I have a-a . . . condition," Cassandra explained whispering the last part as if it were something to be ashamed of.  
  
"What kind of condition?" Harry asked his voice growing concerned.  
  
"It's something with my heart that I've had ever since I was little. No one has been able to explain what's wrong with me. Professor Dumbledore knew I was having problems that man knows everything doesn't he?" Cassandra asked giving a feeble laugh before Harry nodded. "So Dumbledore knew I was having problems and he asked Snape to make me a potion to help ease the pain." Harry nodded in understanding. That answered half of his questions. He also wanted to know why she was so friendly with Snape when she showed so much hatred towards him during the first weeks of the term but he knew it wasn't the time or the place.  
  
"Hermione told Ron and me that you left in the middle of the night last night. She said when you came back it sounded like you had been crying. Where did you go?" Harry explicated before Cassandra's face went even whiter.  
  
"Dammit nobody was supposed to know," Cassandra murmured before she looked up at Harry again, "Sometimes the pain comes at night and it feels . . . words can't describe how terrible it feels. It's almost like my heart is exploding in my chest and its doing it over and over again. So sometimes I go down to the common room or the bathrooms or even into the hallway outside the Gryffindor Tower entrance. The pain is so intense that I can't stay in a room with people. I don't want to disturb them. I think I've ticked off the Fat Lady on a couple of occasions because sometimes . . . sometimes I'll scream and then I'll wake her up. But please Harry, please, please, please don't tell anybody. I don't need sympathy from people and I don't want people to think I'll blow up at any moment. You won't tell anyone will you Harry?" Cassandra asked her eyes pleading, begging with him.  
  
"Your secret's safe with me," Harry said offering her a comforting smile. Cassandra looked like she could have hugged him but she gave him a bright smile, acting as if the incident had never happened.  
  
"You'd better hurry up to your lesson with Snape, you know how he doesn't like to be kept waiting," Cassandra said giving him a wink before she headed up the stairs to the main floor, no doubt heading to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
Harry shook his head and hurried down the hallway to Snape's office. He could hear the professor moving things around in his study before Harry knocked on his door.  
  
"Come in, Potter," he snapped and Harry opened the door and stepped inside immediately, shutting the door behind him. "You're five minutes late, Potter. And you know how I despise lateness," Snape growled at him. Harry noticed he was sitting behind his desk, the pensieve sitting calmly on the tabletop.  
  
"Sorry sir, got a little caught up at dinner," Harry apologized as he sat down in the chair facing Snape.  
  
Professor Snape sneered, "Caught up in your own fame Mr. Potter? Can't go anywhere nowadays without somebody recognizing you and wanting an autograph. Tell me Potter, when will someone approach you and give you the prospect of your own theme park?" Harry could feel his hatred for the man seething inside of him. He didn't know how he was going to concentrate when all he felt was anger and detestation.  
  
"Let's get this over with as soon as possible, Potter. I still have papers to grade and things to do. This is still a waste of my time," Snape growled as he stood up to face Harry.  
  
"It's a waste of my time too, sir," Harry derided before he stood up and tried with all his might to clear his mind.  
  
"Legilimens!" Snape cried without warning. He saw Snape's office deteriorate in front of him and he was left with a clear mind. 'Yes!' Harry thought with triumph, he had gotten rid of all his thoughts. And then he felt Snape's spell pushing further into his mind, delving deeper until he pulled out memories hidden inside Harry's mind. There he was in the alleyway with Dudley, fighting off the dementors . . . The Gryffindor team winning the Quidditch Cup three years ago . . . Christmas at Sirius' house . . . and then Harry saw Sirius falling through the veil in his mind, that shocked and fearful expression locked on his godfather's face. 'No!' Harry screamed inside his head. Snape didn't deserve to witness Sirius' death in his own mind. 'Not this time,' Harry said before Snape was out of his mind.  
  
Snape's office came back into focus and Harry was shocked to see that he was still standing up, wand clutched in his hand. Snape leered at Harry before he nodded his head. "Very good, Potter. It would come to a great shock to me if you said you had been practicing before you went to sleep. No?" Snape questioned when Harry shook his head in disagreement, "Well then Potter I think we'll leave it at that for tonight. I still have your potions homework to grade." Snape sneered as Harry started to give him a nervous look but quickly covered it up.  
  
"Thank you Professor," Harry said as he headed towards the office door, the rustling of papers sounding behind him.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The following week was rather busy for the sixth year students. Halloween was that Friday and all of the students were looking forward to the feast. Harry held true to his word to Cassandra and didn't tell Ron or Hermione about her medical conditions and she seemed extremely grateful for that. In fact, Harry didn't exactly know how Cassandra carried on day in and day out with all the homework, Quidditch practices, and staying up all night in the common room or the bathroom with her aching chest. Cassandra almost reminded Harry of a zombie, which they were studying in Romulus Lupin's class at the moment. Harry didn't know how she finished all her homework, still get good marks on them, and stay on a broomstick beating bludgers around the pitch when she was getting close to three hours of sleep a night.  
  
The night before Halloween was dark and stormy the night sky in the Great Hall cloudy and misty, the threat of rain looming. Harry wished it would pour rain tomorrow so Katie Bell would have to cancel Quidditch practice. They had been practicing three times a week for three hours and all of the members of the team (with the exception of Katie) thought they deserved a break. After all, the first match of the season would be Slytherin verses Ravenclaw; Gryffindor would challenge Hufflepuff the following weekend.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione were eating their dinner in the Great Hall when Cassandra hurried over to the table an enormous grin on her face. "Here comes trouble," Ron muttered with a snicker before Cassandra sat down on the bench beside him.  
  
"I almost forgot what day it is!" she exulted before she grabbed some mashed potatoes and chicken, putting them on her plate.  
  
"Cassie, Halloween is tomorrow night," Hermione explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"Oh I know that Hermione. But tonight is even better than Halloween!" Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at her if she just suggested that Snape's class was better than Hagrid's.  
  
"And what is tonight?" Harry asked. Cassandra answered him with a mischievous grin.  
  
"Tonight is Mischief Night," she said barely above a whisper.  
  
"What's Mischief Night?" Ron asked clearly interested.  
  
"It's when you run around and cause complete mayhem. We used to do it all the time at WillowBoil. We would let off Dungbombs in the hallways, throw them in teacher's classrooms, bathrooms. We would throw toilet paper in everybody's rooms and put whipped cream and shaving cream everywhere. Sometimes the students would cause so much damage that our classes were cancelled the next day and the team of janitors would have to clean up everything since no one could be blamed. Of course all the teachers knew the students were responsible for it, but they never said anything. One of teachers, before he got fired, would always help us out on Mischief Night, letting us into places that were locked and only a fully trained wizard could open them. Mischief Night is the best night of the entire year." Cassandra explained. Ron and Harry looked positively electrified by this holiday when Hermione merely sat there with her mouth hanging open in shock and almost disgust.  
  
"Excellent!" Ron exclaimed loudly before he grabbed some apple custard from the table.  
  
"But in Hogwarts it's hard to get away with a lot of things with Filch and Mrs. Norris, it'd be impossible to do anything," Cassandra said disappointment tingeing her voice.  
  
"Well, when you have certain . . . materials, you'll find getting around Hogwarts unnoticed is extremely easy," Ron said throwing a devious grin Harry's way. Harry nodding knowingly thinking about his Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak.  
  
"I hope you three are not going to go through with this!" Hermione scolded as she whispered fiercely trying not to draw attention to them.  
  
"Why not Hermione? Just a bit of fun for one night? You've done your share of rule breaking I've heard. Let your hair down for a bit and come out with us! You'll have a blast, I promise," Cassandra persuaded as she smiled at Hermione, blue eyes flashing in a conniving way.  
  
"Yea Hermione, you only live once," Harry said giving her a quick nudge in the shoulder.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine. But you do know Ron that if we get caught our badges will be revoked!"  
  
"Well that's just the thing 'Mione, no one will know," Ron said before they started to work out all the details.  
  
They all decided to meet in the common room at quarter to midnight. Harry and Ron headed down to the kitchens to get whipped cream from the house elves and Dobby nearly fainted at seeing the sight of Harry once again. "Oh Harry Potter! Dobby is glad to be seeing you sir! What can Dobby do for the great and noble Harry Potter?" Harry was quite glad that Hermione didn't accompany them to the kitchens as they got the necessary items needed for the night because she'd try to start a strike among the house elves, still up in arms about the House Elf Liberation Front.  
  
"Look Dobby, if people come in here tomorrow and they ask you if you leant out any whipped cream . . . don't say anything. Just tell them no one was in here," Harry explained to Dobby and the house elf nodded.  
  
"Anything for noble Harry Potter sir!" Dobby squeaked.  
  
After saying goodbye to Dobby, Ron and Harry shoved their parcels into their robes and hurried quickly up to Gryffindor Tower trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady without any difficulties and they quickly hurried into their dormitory, storing the food and things in their school trunks.  
  
Once the midnight hour was drawing close, Harry and Ron, checking to see that their roommates were sleeping, grabbed their necessary packages (along with the map and invisibility cloak) and headed downstairs.  
  
They sat in the large common room, on the plush arm chairs by the fire when they heard two pairs of feet creep silently down the stairs. Harry looked up and saw Hermione come down first. He could tell she was trying to enjoy herself but he could tell that the threat of having her prefect's badge taken away was more dominant in her mind.  
  
"Where's Cassie?" Ron whispered as he started to shake up a can of whipped cream.  
  
"Behind you," a voice whispered and Harry laughed quietly as Ron jumped three feet into the air.  
  
"Blimey Cassie you scared me to death! And why are you dressed like that? Harry has an invisibility cloak we won't be seen," Ron explained before Cassandra stepped into the firelight.  
  
"You look like a cat burglar," Harry commented and Harry's statement did indeed hold true. Cassandra stood dressed head to toe in black. She had a black ski cap on her head, covering her already black hair. She was wearing gloves and she also had two dark stripes underneath her eye, making her look like an American Muggle Football player.  
  
"Even though we'll be under the cloak, we'll have to get out of it in order to do most of this stuff," Cassandra explained as she pulled out roll after roll of toilet paper from a little black knapsack that was conveniently on her back. And what makes you think the teachers won't check for fingerprints? Wearing gloves is important. They did it all the time at WillowBoil. Nearly got expelled my first year there because they thought I had flooded all the bathrooms. But it was that stupid girl in her third . . ." Cassandra muttered the last part before she threw a roll to each of them. "Let's get this started!"  
  
And so Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cassandra spent most of the night tee peeing teacher's classrooms and covering bathroom mirrors with whipped cream. Thanks to Harry's map they were able to steer clear of Peeves and Mrs. Norris. Peeves was currently tormenting Moaning Myrtle in the girl's bathroom and Mrs. Norris was in her office with Filch.  
  
"We've done all of the teacher's classrooms besides Sprout, Hagrid and Snape. We need to get Snape," Cassandra explained with an evil grin. Harry threw her a look. If Snape was making potions for Cassandra, and he found out about it, would he stop helping her? Or if he found out Harry was behind it, would he stop helping Harry with his Occlumency lessons?  
  
"Are you sure? His quarters are just off his office. I don't think that's such a good idea," Hermione said nervously who had started a habit of looking over her shoulder and jumping at the slightest noise.  
  
"We've done all the other teachers' classrooms that teach inside and if we skip Snape we would be serving an injustice to the school," Cassandra said nobly as she stood up on one of the desks that were situated in Lupin's classroom. Hermione rolled her eyes before she gathered up the rest of her toilet paper. She grabbed Harry's cloak giving all three of them a look that read 'I want to get this over with and go back to bed.'  
  
"We should do the common room too," Ron suggested in a whispered voice as they headed down to the dungeons.  
  
"Are you stupid Ron? If we vandalize the Gryffindor common room, they will assume a Gryffindor did it. But unless you know the passwords to all the other dormitories then yes I say we go for it," Cassandra explained and Ron started to go pink.  
  
They finally got to Snape's classroom and they opened up the door and crept inside. Cassandra immediately went over to where jars and jars of disgusting things were floating around in them. They were all arranged in alphabetical order from Aardvark Ala Mode to Zzanticula Tentacles. She began to rearrange all three hundred or so jars. Harry started to throw toilet paper around the classroom letting it catch on the extinguished candle holders and the large chandelier that hung in the middle of the room. Ron was drawing a rather rude drawing of Snape on the chalkboard, making a bug ski off his rather hooked nose. Hermione was spraying whipped cream on the desks before she helped Harry with throwing around the toilet paper.  
  
They heard Cassandra give a curse, her eyes landing on the Marauder's Map. "Snape's coming!" she cried before they all exchanged frantic and panicked looks. They immediately got underneath the invisibility cloak and knowing that Snape would be coming from his office, they ran for the door they had just entered.  
  
"What the blazes is going on here?" a voice roared from the front of the classroom. The foursome broke into a run, stuffing all their evidence into a black knapsack and they threw it into an old waste basket.  
  
Harry could hear Snape in the hallway bellowing the stunning spell and he knew they were done for. Harry could hear Cassandra mutter a spell under her breath and then she screamed loudly.  
  
"CRABBE, GOYLE! RUN THE OLD GIT'S CATCHING UP!" Cassandra screamed in a voice that was identical to Draco Malfoy's.  
  
"Brilliant!" Ron whispered as they ran up the steps, Cassandra still yelling out orders as Malfoy.  
  
Cassandra finally let the spell drop as they neared the Gryffindor Tower. Then they heard Snape's voice ringing through the entire school. "Attention teachers, there are students who are out of bed, vandalizing the school." Harry could hear Hermione whimpering underneath her breath. The group gasped in unison when they heard the pounding of feet following them. "I heard them go this way!" They heard Filch yell loudly before more feet pounded along with Filch. They were twenty feet away from the Fat Lady, ten feet . . . five . . .  
  
Cassandra let out a gnarled scream of pain before her legs dropped out from under her. She collapsed onto the ground clutching her chest. The three of them stopped but Cassandra urged them forward. "Just go," she managed to gasp out, tears falling down her face, smearing the black makeup, "Go!"  
  
Harry turned to Ron and Hermione. "Leave the invisibility cloak, and get yourselves into bed. I'll get Cassandra," Harry explained. The two nodded and they hurried through the portrait and into the common room. Harry turned around and grabbed Cassandra's hand, picking her up, and placing the cloak around them.  
  
"Can you walk?" he asked her. She nodded feebly and they hurried into the Gryffindor House. "You need to wash that stuff off your face and hurry into your pajamas; I expect they'll do a search of all the houses. Are you going to be alright?" Harry asked as they stopped in front of the stairs that led up to the dormitories.  
  
"Thank you Harry," Cassandra whispered before she tried her best to hobble up the steps, clutching her chest the entire way. Hoping she would be alright, Harry bolted up the steps and took off his black cloak, revealing his pajamas. He folded the cloak up neatly as well as his invisibility cloak before he closed his trunk and flew into his bed, pulling the red hangings closed and racing under the covers. He took his glasses off quickly and placed them on his bedside table.  
  
He could hear Ron trying to keep his breath under control, trying to act like he was asleep. Adrenaline pumped through Harry just at the thought of almost being caught by Professor Snape. He smiled at Cassandra's pure stroke of genius by using Malfoy's voice to throw the blame off them if they should ever be accused.  
  
"Could you imagine the trouble she'd get into if Fred and George were still here?" Ron whispered to Harry. Harry thought about this for a moment and found he could only snicker.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The morning of Halloween was dark and stormy. Harry could hear the pounding of the rain outside the window as got out of bed and said cheerful good mornings to Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron. Harry felt the gut wrenching feeling in his stomach remembering the things he did last night. Now that he thought back to it, he wasn't sure if it was the smartest thing to do. But if Malfoy received the blame and not him, it would surely be the happiest Halloween he had ever had.  
  
Ron and Harry hurried into the common room to find everyone in an extremely happy mood. A few people were gathered around the post board looking at a new announcement.  
  
"What's going on?" Harry asked a fourth year that was closest to the board.  
  
"All classes have been cancelled today! Some genius person thought to ransack all of the teachers' classrooms. Filch and some of the house elves will be cleaning all day," the boy replied. Harry and Ron exchanged excited looks. So they had done it. They, along with Hermione and Cassandra had single handedly cancelled all the classes for the day.  
  
Harry and Ron went to sit at a table, Hermione joining them. It looked like she didn't sleep at all last night. "Probably thought McGonagall would burst into her room and rip her prefect's badge away," Ron muttered to Harry. "Well, everything's just right in the world Hermione. Your badge hasn't been revoked or anything. But why do you look so tired?" Ron asked as Hermione took a seat immediately pulling out her Dark Arts homework.  
  
"Because Cassie was in an intense amount of pain last night, I could tell she was crying but she kept it hidden extremely well. I wonder what's wrong with her."  
  
"Where is she now?" Harry asked his face full of concern.  
  
"I don't know. She wasn't in the room when I came down. She might have gone down for an early breakfast seeing as she didn't sleep a wink last night," Hermione explained her voice dripping with worry.  
  
Just as Hermione said those words, the portrait flew open and Cassandra stumbled in, looking more exhausted than Harry had ever seen her. She saw them and her eyes grew bright and a smile grew on her face the fatigue leaving her brilliant blue eyes.  
  
"You'll never guess what I just saw!" Cassandra exclaimed her bright blue eyes letting off a silent laughter.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked looking up from her book.  
  
"I was in Snape's room . . ."  
  
"You were in Snape's room? Did he suspect you? Did you get into trouble?" Hermione asked her voice going pale instantly.  
  
"No and No, Hermione. I had to pick up something to do with detention in his room and guess who was in there! Go on guess!" Cassandra said in an excited whisper so no one would over hear her. When nobody answered her, she let out a laugh.  
  
"Malfoy!" she said with glee. The three of them gave her shocked looks before they urged her to go on, "Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were in his room. Snape bought my voice changing charm and thought that it was Malfoy who was vandalizing the school not us! That and the fact the place where we threw away the knapsack was a shortcut to the Slytherin dormitory! And you'll never guess what Snape did next!" Cassandra said happily. Harry thought that if her eyes contained one more ounce of happiness she would burst.  
  
"McGonagall was in there as well and of course Snape couldn't just let them off easy. He said 'Never in all my years of being head of Slytherin house have I ever seen one of its own act so recklessly. I am ashamed that you are in Slytherin and I would have you three booted out if Professor McGonagall didn't talk me out of it. Each of you will serve a month's detention with Professor McGonagall.' Professor McGonagall grumbled about it not being enough punishment so then she went on to say, 'I believe, Severus that if you do not want these boys expelled points from their house must be deducted. Therefore one hundred points will be taken away from Slytherin. One hundred points each.' They have to spend the whole day cleaning all the classrooms. With no magic!" Cassandra squealed with delight before she erupted into laughter causing some first years to look at her if she were insane.  
  
Ron acted like Christmas had come early. The only thing he wanted more in the world was for Malfoy to get into an absurd amount of trouble and here it was. He laughed harder than any of them until tears rolled down his cheeks at the mere thought of Malfoy having to scrub off whipped cream with a rag; doing what Malfoy would call 'servant's stuff.' But Slytherin was last place in the running for the House Cup now that three hundred points were deducted.  
  
"So what are we going to do with our time off?" Ron asked grandly as they headed down to breakfast.  
  
"We really haven't had any time to visit Hagrid. He's been so busy this year with his classes and fixing up the grounds. Not that we haven't been busy either what with homework and Quidditch and everything else," Harry proposed and all of them agreed to go down to Hagrid's hut after breakfast.  
  
Harry found himself situated next to Cassandra as he reached over and grabbed a custard from its tray. She still looked extremely pale and it did look like she didn't sleep a wink last night. "Alright there Cassie?" Harry asked before she turned her pumpkin juice into coffee, taking a long sip of it.  
  
"I guess so. Got Snape's potion this morning so I should be fine for a day or two. You haven't told anyone have you?" Cassandra asked a tinge of fear could be registered in her voice.  
  
"I haven't told anybody Cassie, don't worry about it," Harry explained laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. She nodded before she busied herself with her breakfast.  
  
"Harry! Cassie can I have a word?" Katie Bell shouted a ways down the Gryffindor table. Cassandra and Harry got up from their seats, Cassandra grumbling about how she didn't like to be disturbed during her breakfast before they stood in front of Gryffindor captain and chaser Katie Bell.  
  
"What's up Katie?" Cassandra asked as she gave a smile to the seventh year.  
  
"I booked the field for us this afternoon so we can practice before our game against Hufflepuff next Saturday. Meet everyone at the pitch right after lunch," Katie informed them before she turned around and started to talk to some of her girlfriends. Harry and Cassandra turned around and walked back to their seats ready to finish their breakfasts.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Once they had eaten their breakfast and were stuffed with food, the four headed down to Hagrid's hut to spend the morning with their favorite gamekeeper. Harry knocked on the door and they could hear Hagrid's boarhound, Fang barking deep inside his hut.  
  
"Jus' one minute . . . Fang's just' a bi' excited to be havin' visitors," a gruff yet kind voice hollered from inside the house. The door burst wide open and Harry and his friends were staring at the largest man they had ever seen. Hagrid was twice as tall as a fully grown man and three times as wide. His hands were as big as the plates in the Great Hall and legs were as wide as a small tree trunk. They all knew that Hagrid was a half giant and his half brother Gwarp was in the Forbidden Forest uprooting trees and causing mayhem.  
  
"Alright there Hagrid?" Hermione asked with a smile as he allowed them entrance in his hut. The four of them could easily sit down on the large arm chair that was near the entrance of the hut.  
  
"Jus' fine Hermione. I was just fixin' up a spot o' tea when you came up ter see me," Hagrid explained as he hurried over to the fire where a kettle was wheezing about.  
  
"Did you hear what happened up at the castle last night Hagrid?" Ron asked, barely able to keep his enthusiasm bottled up.  
  
"O' course I did Ron. Filch was knockin' on me door at the crack o' dawn tellin' me that some students had vandalized the school or sommat like that. Came as quite a shock when we learned that Malfoy and his friends were behind it," Hagrid explained before a small grin played on his gigantic lips.  
  
"It couldn't have been Golden Boy Malfoy, Hagrid!" Cassandra said with a repressed gasp.  
  
"Th' very one Cassie," Hagrid replied before he burst into laughter. "I was there when they found Malfoy in th' common room. Snape told him he was in 'lot of trouble. I will never forget that shocked expression on Malfoy's face. O' course I had a feelin' that Malfoy had nothin' ter do with it but I didn't say anythin' on a count that the little rascals that ran rampage in th' school last nigh' are good friends o' mine," Hagrid explained before he gave them all knowing looks. Hermione looked like she was about to faint and Harry and Ron exchanged looks of panic. Cassandra looked as cool and as calm as ever.  
  
"How did you know it was us Hagrid?" Hermione asked extremely close to tears.  
  
"Now don' go off cryin' 'Mione. Besides, I can tell by th' expressions on yer faces. You all look dog tired and Malfoy and his two friends looked completely r'freshed when Snape woke them up in th' morning. Have dark circles under your eyes, the lot of you. An' I'm not about ter turn you lot in," Hagrid elucidated. Hermione looked relieved and Harry and Ron let out the breaths they had been holding in. Cassandra smiled happily and thanked Hagrid. "Now, I wan' you lot up in th' common room. You all need some rest or you won't be able ter attend the Halloween feast tonigh'"  
  
After having a bit of tea with Hagrid and talking about the upcoming Quidditch season and Christmas the four of them went back up to the common room and into their dormitories for a quick nap.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Once Quidditch practice was over, Harry, Ron and Cassandra decided to walk around the large lake talking about the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. They waved hello to Neville who was sitting underneath a tree reading through his Herbology homework. When Neville saw Cassandra he waved wildly and all of his papers flew away in the breeze. Neville turned a brilliant shade of scarlet before he hurried off after his papers.  
  
"If I didn't know any better I'd say Neville fancies somebody and it certainly isn't Harry or me," Ron hinted as he nudged Cassandra in the shoulder. Cassandra laughed before she gave Ron a playful shove.  
  
"I don't think Neville fancies anyone over here," Cassandra denied with a laugh.  
  
"Oh please Cassie, he always tries to get a seat next to you during meals and in classes, he keeps asking you about helping him practice Quidditch. Ever since you stood up for him in Snape's class and publicly humiliated Malfoy he's held you up in some other light. In fact, I reckon he only tried out for the house team because you tried out," Ron explained a huge smile on his face. Harry could tell that Cassandra was seriously debating on whether or not to shove Ron in the lake. She looked at Harry and smiled before she grimaced and clutched her chest. Ron took no notice and continued to complain about school and gloat about Malfoy getting the blame as he began throwing medium sized rocks into the lake, the giant squid throwing a few back with one of his tentacles.  
  
A small owl suddenly flew straight towards Ron, hitting him square in the face. "Pig you rotten tosser!" Ron yelled as the small owl whizzed around him. It took Ron nearly five minutes to get the note attached to his owl Pigwidgeon's leg and he shouted in happiness when he realized it was a note from his brothers Fred and George.  
  
"I'm going to go write back to them, going to tell them about our escapade. They'll be insanely jealous they didn't think about that," Ron commented before he headed up to the castle, Pig in tow leaving Harry and Cassandra to finish their second lap around the lake.  
  
"I thought you said you'd be fine for a couple of days," Harry commented as Cassandra winced once more before she put on a brave face.  
  
"The potion has to kick in," she said shortly. Harry shook his head and knew she was lying. It had been nearly ten hours since Cassandra had gone down to Snape's dungeon for her potion and he was almost sure that it didn't take ten hours for a potion to 'kick in.' "But then again," Cassandra explained and she pulled a medium sized vial out of her robes. Harry saw the dark black liquid swirl around in the clear, clean glass and he didn't know how she could drink it. She uncorked the bottle and drank half of its contents, making a disgusted face. "This stuff is absolutely vile I can't stand to drink it," Cassandra was silent for a moment before she sighed contentedly, "that's much better."  
  
The two continued to walk around the lake the silence surrounding them like a cloak. Harry sighed heavily and there was a hint of discourage in his sharp breath. Cassandra picked up on his uncertainty and turned to face him.  
  
"That certainly was a depressive sigh," Cassandra commented, "Got something on your mind?"  
  
"I'm just really confused," Harry countered back as he stared at his feet going back and forth as they rounded out onto their third lap.  
  
"About what?" Cassandra questioned.  
  
Harry hesitated a moment. He wasn't sure if he could tell her, he didn't think she'd understand. But there was something about Cassandra White that Harry could trust, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but she reminded him of somebody, somebody that he could trust. After all, she had shared that she had a heart condition, something that very few people knew about; why shouldn't he tell her? "I don't know what to do about the Black Diamond," Harry began and he could see Cassandra give him a shocked look.  
  
"Oh. The Black Diamond," she murmured quietly, "What about it?"  
  
"I really don't know if I should tell Dumbledore about it. A part of me deep down is telling me that I need to but another part says that it could just be dreams and nothing more and that I shouldn't waste Professor Dumbledore's time because he has a lot of things to take care of."  
  
"Is there somebody else you could talk to, like a relative or a close adult friend of yours aside from Dumbledore?" Cassandra asked her brow furrowing together in thought. Harry sighed again and a vision flashed through his mind. Sirius falling through the veil.never to return.  
  
"There was somebody but he died.he was my godfather and I know that if Sirius were still alive I could tell him, he would let me know what to do," Harry said in a forlorn voice. He heard Cassandra's sharp intake of breath before she spoke again.  
  
"I know what its like to lose somebody special in your life, Harry. I've been there before. I'm sure Sirius was a good man and I'm sorry you lost him," Cassandra said in a sympathetic voice. Was it just Harry or did it sound like Cassandra was about to cry?  
  
"If you don't mind me asking: How did your parents die?" Harry asked knowing that it was probably a touchy subject with the sixteen year old.  
  
"I never knew my father. He ran off before I was even born. My mom hated me from the beginning. She was extremely young when she had me and my father left her all alone to care for me. She was a witch who was going somewhere, she had so much to live for and then she had me. I hindered her dreams and she had to become a house witch and care for me all the time. I was a mistake.I never should have happened but I did. I don't know who my father is; every time I brought it up with my mother she would change the subject or lock me away in my room. She told me that not only was I a mistake but so was my father. My mom told me that he went out and got himself killed a few months before I was born. One day my mother couldn't take it anymore and she tried to kill me, but her wand backfired and she ended up killing herself. So there I was ten years old and orphaned. So the Headmaster at WillowBoil sent me to a regular muggle orphanage and then I came here and that's basically my life story. Pretty pathetic huh?" Cassandra disclosed. Harry could see her eyes watering but she blinked quickly and they disappeared.  
  
Quite frankly, Harry didn't know what to say. Sure he was orphaned when he was a baby; he never knew his parents but in a way, neither did Cassandra. Her father, probably dead now, never knew she existed and her mother didn't want her. At least Harry's parents wanted him; at least he wasn't branded as a mistake an impediment to dreams. And at least Harry had living relatives even though he hated them and his relative despised them.  
  
"Erm.sorry," he said before he offered her a comforting smile. He had a feeling that Cassandra didn't like to dig up the past.  
  
"Why are you saying sorry? It's not your fault that my parents hated me, don't be sorry at all Harry," Cassandra said as if somebody being sorry for her horrible past was some kind of crime.  
  
"Sorry," Harry said apologizing for saying sorry. Cassandra looked at him and started to laugh. She looked towards the west and saw that the last bit of the sun was disappearing, night swiftly on its way. "I believe we have a Halloween feast to attend?" Cassandra questioned as they headed up towards the castle, the Great Hall illuminated.  
  
"Yeah, right. I heard Dumbledore booked a bunch of black can-can dancing cats for entertainment," Harry explained and Cassandra laughed again.  
  
"That man is brilliant. Can-can dancing cats," Cassandra giggled as they joined the rest of their classmates in the Great Hall, ready to begin the evening's festivities.  
  
*~*~*  
  
And sure enough, Dumbledore did, in fact hire can-can dancing black cats. The entire Hall was on their feet, clapping and singing along to the songs the cats performed to. Many of the students were laughing hysterically, Cassandra especially proclaiming it was the best Halloween she had ever had.  
  
Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and tapped Ron on the shoulder when he noticed Malfoy. Harry watched as Ron laughed hysterically at the sight of Malfoy. His usual slicked back, white blonde hair was in disarray and he looked half dead. Crabbe and Goyle looked uglier than usual and they tried to feed themselves miserably. Harry could tell they were extremely tired and he couldn't help but laugh along with Ron.  
  
Once the feast was over, Harry, Cassandra, Hermione, and Ron headed back up to the common room, all of them extremely full and also very tired. As they were walking up the marble steps, Harry's scar felt like it was about to burst. He gripped his head and leaned against the railing of the marble staircase. He looked up at Ron and an emotion surged through him. He wanted to smack Ron, to hurt him in any way possible. Hurt him horribly, maybe even kill him. Harry walked up to Ron and held his hands up, ready to pounce when another emotion gushed through him. He felt light headed, giddy with happiness and now he wanted to hug Hermione, to dance around with her and laugh loudly.  
  
Harry gasped loudly, making Hermione, Ron, and Cassandra turn around to give him questioning glances. "Alright Harry?" Ron asked his voice dripping with concern. Harry nodded but he could feel the anxiety and fear inside him. Voldemort was feeling violent and happy at the same time, something was going to happen and Harry knew for a fact that it wouldn't be a good thing. 


	11. Fireside Exchange

Thank you to all who reviewed! Hopefully the chapters will become longer (and the reviews will become more abundant!) I just wanted to say that you guys are the greatest for your reviews and I wouldn't be writing this if it weren't for you guys!  
  
Enjoy!  
  
11. Fireside Exchange  
  
To Harry's utmost surprise he had a dreamless sleep and woke up the next morning fully refreshed. He looked out the dormitory window and saw that the clouds had moved towards the east and the sun was shining through a few of the wisps that were left behind.  
  
Harry noticed that everyone in the dormitory was gone; their bed sheets in a disorder as if something had come in the middle of the night and disrupted their sleep. Thinking the dancing black cats were doing an encore performance in the Great Hall, Harry hurried to get dressed and headed into the common room. Surely there was someone in there to accompany him down to breakfast.  
  
But to Harry's surprise, the entire common room was deserted. Confused, Harry checked his watched and noted the Quidditch match didn't start in another three hours. Hoping an epidemic didn't sweep the school, leaving Harry to be the only healthy one, he headed down to breakfast, wondering why Ron didn't wake him.  
  
When Harry reached the Great Hall, he was met with a wall of distress from the students. Even the Slytherins looked shaken up. Harry didn't notice as he walked towards the Gryffindor table, that every other student was looking at parchment in their hands, whispering and gossiping loudly.  
  
"What's going on? Who died?" Harry asked as he sat between Ron and Hermione, both of them looking extremely shaken up. Hermione looked at Harry and ruffled the Daily Prophet so it landed on the front page. Ron was extremely pale and looked like he had lost his appetite because he had pushed his food far away from himself.  
  
Harry took the newspaper from Hermione's hands gingerly. He had a feeling something horrible had happened, only this would have forced all the students out of their beds to go into the Great Hall to gossip about whatever the Daily Prophet contained. Harry looked down at the front page and was met with a grisly sight.  
  
There was a picture in the center of the page. Harry noticed a building in the background, but it wasn't much of a building anymore. Harry could see bits of fire burning around the remains of the structure. A few wizards from the Ministry of Magic were talking to a few Aurors all of them looking pale and worn-out. And then at the top of the picture, pointing in the sky was something that struck fear into the hearts of all witches and wizards alike. The Dark Mark. Slowly, hands trembling slightly, Harry read the headline.  
  
Death Eaters Strike The Wizard Museum of History, 30 Dead and Enchanted  
Diamond Stolen.  
  
Harry's heart skipped a beat when his eyes scanned across the bit about the enchanted diamond. Surely the Death Eaters didn't find the Black Diamond so soon?  
  
Diagon Alley- Death Eaters attacked the Wizard Museum of History last night at the estimated time of five minutes past eight o'clock on Halloween night. Believed to be a raid for riches and treasures, the servants of You- Know-Who ran rampant through the museum, killing all in their path. No survivors were left behind and no Death Eaters were apprehended. Officials from the Ministry of Magic and a team of Ministry Aurors rushed to the scene of the attack to find the museum in ruins.  
  
"I've never seen anything so horrendous in my entire life!" Matilda Hibbert an official from the Ministry of Magic cried out as they picked through the ruins to obtain destroyed and broken wizard artifacts. The death count in this horrendous attack is in the thirty's but could be expected to rise if more bodies are picked from the ruins. The museum, which usually closes at around five thirty every day, remained open until ten o' clock for a Halloween extravaganza. But the merrymaking turned ugly when the Death Eaters arrived and began their invasion of the museum. What confuses officials the most is that only one artifact seemed to be missing from the ranks.  
  
The museum's curator, who was at home with his family at the time of the attack, has now informed Ministry workers that an ancient artifact was on loan from a Wizard Museum in Germany. The curator (who would like to remain anonymous in case he and his family are being hunted) explained that the German Wizard Museum lent an enchanted diamond to be showcased through the winter months at the Wizard Museum of History. This seemed to be the only piece that was missing from the wreckage of the museum and everyone is confused as to why the Death Eaters stole this particular item when there were works of art worth millions of Galleons right at their fingertips.  
  
"It seems that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was looking for this one particular piece for his own private collection. No one really knows if he is an art collector for one thing. Maybe he just wants it because it's worth a lot of money. Maybe he wanted an excuse to attack a public area and kill as many of people as possible. We really have no idea," explained Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge when he arrived at the scene shortly after midnight. Fudge also explained that the wreckage of the two hundred year old museum would be cleared and the museum would be rebuilt, a monument dedicated to those who perished last night would be placed in the lobby. The names of the victims are being withheld at the moment, but they are scheduled to be released in the following week.  
  
Harry let the newspaper fall onto his plate with a small thud. Thirty people dead, all because Voldemort wanted the Black Diamond. But did he find it? Why had Wormtail and Lestrange defied Voldemort by saying the Black Diamond was impossible to get? Breaking into a museum and killing a group of witches and wizards didn't seem hard to do if one was a Death Eater.  
  
He looked over at Hermione and then at Ron, both of them as pale faced as ever. Hermione looked like she was on the brink of tears as she took the paper away from Harry and placed it in her bag. Harry looked over at the other tables and saw a second year Ravenclaw sob into the shoulder of a peer. "My brother and his family went to that museum every Halloween and I haven't gotten an owl from him, I've sent him twenty since this morning," she cried as her friend patted her shoulder awkwardly not knowing what to do.  
  
Harry could feel the guilt rise in his stomach. Maybe if he told Dumbledore about the Black Diamond they could have been there to protect it and save all the innocent lives that were lost. The Aurors would be waiting for the Death Eaters when they arrived at the museum and they would be captured and sent off to Azkaban. How could he have been so stupid? To think the dreams about Voldemort weren't true when Harry could feel his emotions, feel his scar burst open in pain whenever Voldemort tortured his servants? He was too damn noble, that's what Hermione had told him that one night. And now the attempt to save his nobility had resulted in the brutal murders of thirty or more people.  
  
Harry looked over at Cassandra and met her eyes. Even though her blue eyes showed remorse for those who were killed, she seemed to be relieved about the attack that had happened the night before. Harry gave her a questioning look before Dumbledore stood up in his seat to announce the Great Hall.  
  
"I know that these attacks have come to a bit of a shock to all of you. Therefore, the Quidditch match that was scheduled for today will be canceled. School owls will be available to those who have none if they wish to send letters to their parents. Please do not dwell on the assault that took place last night, go about your daily weekend habits," Dumbledore announced. All the teachers looked solemn as Dumbledore left the Great Hall, no doubt sending owls to the Order and to the Ministry as well.  
  
Harry started to eat his breakfast, the eggs in his mouth tasting bland and plain when Hedwig flew into the Great Hall and dropped a letter onto Harry's lap. Hedwig landed in front of Harry, who fed her a piece of bacon before she took off to head to the Owlrey.  
  
"Who's that from?" Ron asked as he gazed at the letter with utmost interest. Harry shrugged and opened the letter, realizing it was a note from Remus Lupin.  
  
Harry,  
No doubt you heard about the attacks that happened last night. Many of the victims were muggle born, their first time in a wizard museum of some sorts. Anyway, I need to talk to you though not over owl in case the letter is seized. Can you be in the Gryffindor common room tomorrow night by the fire at midnight? I must speak with you seeing as it is most urgent. Hope everything is going well, give Ron and Hermione my best. Sincerely,  
Remus Lupin  
  
Harry let Ron and Hermione see the letter and he was about to show Cassandra when she abruptly excused herself and hurried out of the Great Hall. Thinking it was her heart pains; Harry then asked Ron and Hermione for their advice.  
  
"I think you should talk to him, tell him about all the dreams you've been having about the Black Diamond for all we know, Lupin knows about it and can tell us why the Death Eaters stole it," Hermione whispered hurriedly as she folded up Lupin's letter and made Harry put it in his robe pocket.  
  
"Besides, you can ask him why Dumbledore gave the Dark Arts job to his brother. And tell him I still think he was the better teacher!" Ron explained trying to turn the serious manner into a funny one.  
  
"Oh Ron, this is important!" Hermione scolded before she wiped off her mouth with her napkin. Harry smiled grateful for Ron's sense of humor during such a serious time. Once they had finished their dinner, they headed for the common room to finish some of their homework the teachers had assigned over the weekend.  
  
They entered the Gryffindor common room to find Cassandra sitting by the fireplace. Harry could see her put away a clear vial, filled with black liquid into the front pocket of her robes. She smiled at the three of them before they sat around the fire and joined her. They noticed that Cassandra was reading through her potions essay fervently trying to catch the little mistakes she made that Snape was sure to count off for.  
  
Harry noticed that Cassandra's eyes were puffy and red again, no doubt crying from the pain that omitted from her heart. Hermione went upstairs to her dormitory to grab her books so she could get started on her schoolwork as well. Dean and Ginny finally convinced Ron to join them outside at the Quidditch pitch to practice for their game since the Ravenclaw and Slytherin match was cancelled for the day.  
  
Cassandra and Harry were alone in the common room once again, everyone else outside, trying to enjoy the last few days of a cool breeze during midday and a mild afternoon before the winter snow came and incased the castle with bitter snow. "What do you think about the attack?" Harry asked her as Hermione hurried upstairs again to find her Arithmancy book.  
  
"Even though the deaths were horrible, it wasn't really that bad," Cassandra explained shrugging her shoulders. Harry looked at her in bewilderment. The attack not that bad? The entire museum had been blown to smithereens, thirty innocent people had been slaughtered and all for a stupid enchanted diamond. How was it in any way not that bad? Harry decided to keep his mouth shut. He had a strange feeling that it wasn't a good thing to upset Cassandra White, nor was it a good thing to have her as an enemy.  
  
"Back!" Hermione exclaimed breathlessly as she hauled her enormous Arithmancy book down the stairs throwing it down on the table behind Cassandra's arm chair. Harry watched as Hermione pulled out her parchment and quill before she opened up the book to the middle and began to read, writing down notes and answers to questions in the process.  
  
Harry looked over at the empty fireplace, knowing that at midnight tomorrow night he would be talking to Lupin, one of Sirius and James' old friends and maybe he would get some answers.  
  
The day went on without any problems. Together, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Cassandra got the bulk of their work done on Saturday so they could spend most of their time on Sunday to wander around the castle and its grounds. It was nearing midnight when Harry and Ron finally started off to bed, Hermione having gone up to her dormitory an hour earlier. The two had left Cassandra in the common room and Harry couldn't help but feel concerned towards the girl. They had left her sitting in the squishy arm chair directly in front of the fireplace which was now roaring with flames. When they had bid her goodnight, she could only murmur back, her gaze transfixed on the roaring blaze in front of her.  
  
"A bit strange today wasn't she?" Ron asked as they got ready for bed, the rest of their roommates were already asleep.  
  
"Yea she was a bit awkward today I think she was just preoccupied with something," Harry explained before he crawled into his bed.  
  
"Like thinking about all those detentions she's been having with Snape? Honestly, if the girl spends more time than she does with the git, people are going to start to speculate," Ron elucidated.  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I mean people are going to start to think that the reason Cassie is spending so much time down there with Snape is because she's like having some sort of-oh I don't know, something like an affair with him," Ron said whispering the last part as if it were forbidden to be talked about inside the castle walls.  
  
Harry looked at Ron in shock. Where did he get the idea that Cassandra was having an affair with Snape? It was ludicrous! If Ron knew the truth about Cassandra, about her heart problems, how only Snape could make the potion to ease her pains, then he would think differently. Harry cried out to Ron rather loudly in a stunned voice, "Cassie would never do something like that. Need I remind you that it's Snape? Need I remind you that Cassandra told him he couldn't listen due to the amount of wax buildup in his ear? Need I remind you about the time she called him a brainless prat right to his face? If those are the markings of a student teacher affair please let me know."  
  
Ron looked at Harry and blushed. "You're right mate that was stupid of me, she hates Snape's guts! More than I do probably! Well, I don't know about you, but I need to get to sleep, after all, we're having a three day weekend and sleeping in past the alarm is always a must!" Ron explained before he said his goodnights and closed the hangings around his bed.  
  
Harry finally placed his head down on his pillow, taking off his glasses and putting them on his bedside table. Thinking about the attacks, Harry fell into a deep sleep.  
  
"You found the Diamond? And so soon?" a high pitched and leery voice exclaimed from his blood red armchair. Harry was back in the Riddle's house in Little Hangleton once more and Voldemort was holding yet another meeting for his Death Eaters.  
  
"Yes my Master, we attacked and killed many who stood in our way! We left utter mayhem in our wake, bringing you your precious jewel in the process," Macnair, a ex-worker of the Ministry of Magic said triumphantly as he stood in front of the Dark Lord, a polished rosewood box in his large, beefy hands. Harry noticed that two more Death Eaters were flanking Macnair's side, probably his accomplices.  
  
"Wonderful Macnair, wonderful. I am most pleased with your efforts. If this is the Diamond I am looking for, then you will be rewarding beyond your wildest dreams," Voldemort sneered out before he raised his hand and bade his Death Eater forward. "I also had Wormtail bring me the Daily Prophet and I saw that you brandished the Dark Mark over the building. Well done, well done, very soon we will launch a full attack on the Ministry and bring that idiot Fudge to his knees, begging us to kill him. But all that will not be able to happen unless I have my Black Diamond. Bring it forward Macnair and we'll see if your Diamond is the one I have searched for."  
  
Harry moved forward and saw the very top of Voldemort's head. Harry could feel his scar burn as Macnair moved forward and kneeled in front of his lord, holding the box up high as if he were offering a sacrifice to a higher being. Harry watched thunderstruck as Voldemort took the box from his Death Eater's trembling hands and gently lifted the golden latch off the box. The lid was slowly raised and staring Voldemort directly in the face was an enormous diamond. Only it wasn't black, it gleamed a deep purple color.  
  
"You fools! You insubordinate fools! This is the wrong Diamond! I asked for the Black Diamond, not the Purple Diamond! The Purple Diamond does nothing for me! It is worthless just as all of you are! You are all worthless! THIS KIND OF FAILURE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED MACNAIR!" Voldemort screamed as he leapt from his chair, the Death Eaters and Harry cowering in fear.  
  
"M-my Lord . . . I am e-extremely sorry! P-p-please accept my sincerest apologies! I never m-m-meant to fail you in anyway! Think of all the fear we imposed to the wizarding world when we attacked the museum. . ."  
  
"You idiot! The Black Diamond cannot be found in a museum! Did you not hear Lestrange and Wormtail defiantly tell me that it was impossible to get? Did it not occur to you that storming a museum and stealing worthless junk, killing people is impossible? No! You didn't think Macnair and for that you will be extremely punished!"  
  
"No! No my lord . . . please my lord. . . I'm sorry s-s-s-so sorry to displease you! I can make it up to you my lord I can make it up to you!" Macnair screamed as tears flew down his face. Harry had never really seen a grown man sob the way the Death Eater, groveling on the floor had, especially one as beefy and manly as Macnair. Harry remembered the man when was asked to perform the task of killing Hagrid's hippogriff Buckbeak. Now the man lay broken on the floor, pleading with his master . . . pleading with all his heart that he would be spared.  
  
"Begging and groveling will get you nowhere. Crucio!" Voldemort screamed pointing his wand directly at Macnair. Harry watched horrorstruck as Macnair curled into a ball, screaming and crying as the pain coursed through his body. "This will teach you to think before you act. This will teach all of you!" Voldemort screamed again as he addressed all of his Death Eaters who nodded in understanding. Voldemort pointed to two Death Eaters that were standing in a corner. "You two," he barked and they both stood rapt with attention, "take Macnair into the attic and torture him until he is but inches from insanity. Maybe extreme torture will teach him to bring me the item I requested." The two servants nodded and dragged Macnair from the room, the man kicking and screaming with all the will he had left. Harry felt no pity towards him. He had killed all those people in the museum, no doubt with some help from fellow friends.  
  
"Let this be a lesson to all of you. If you fail me, if you bring me an artifact and it is not the Black Diamond, you will meet the same fate as Macnair. Do not rest; do not stop until the Black Diamond is in your lord's hands! Do I make myself clear? Remember the Dark Lord shows no mercy, even to his allies!" Voldemort bellowed before he sat back down in his seat, pulling his robes across him. "I will have the Black Diamond and then no one will stand in my way!" Voldemort started to laugh, his high, bone chilling laugh. Harry could feel his scar burning with pain before he was sent back to his bed, far away from the Riddle house, back in his bed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
Harry woke with a start and looked around the room and noticed that everyone was still sleeping soundly, unaware of Harry's nightmares. Harry gazed at his small clock next to his table and realized it was a little after four o' clock in the morning. Knowing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Harry dressed and headed downstairs into the common room. He wanted to be able to think about his current dream without Neville snoring like a boarhound.  
  
He walked down the hallway, the thick red carpet muffling his heavy footfalls before he started to walk down the stairs into the common room. He noticed the fire was still roaring in the grate which surprised Harry greatly. The house elves usually extinguished the fire when everybody went up to bed. That could mean only one thing, he was not alone in the common room.  
  
Harry stepped onto the main floor of the Gryffindor common room and headed towards the fireplace. Harry could see the shadows of a person flickering eerily off the walls. Harry walked silently and cautiously into the light of the fire hoping he didn't startle the person that was probably sitting down in one of the armchairs. The firelight sputtered just inches from the person, cloaking him in shadow. The figure didn't move an inch as Harry stood directly in front of it, the source of its light hidden behind Harry's tall figure.  
  
It took Harry a moment to realize that the person sitting in the armchair was, in fact, Cassandra White exactly how he had left her hours before. She wasn't sleeping, but staring at the fire, and Harry could tell she had been crying again. Although she wasn't crying at the moment, Harry could see the long tear stains that had marked her face probably hours before.  
  
Having a feeling she would want to be alone, Harry turned around to leave Cassandra sitting in her over stuffed arm chair when a hand reached out and grabbed his arm, holding onto him weakly.  
  
"Don't go, I need the company," she said quietly her voice hoarse. Harry obliged and sat down in the armchair next to her, letting himself settle into the fluffy, red armchair.  
  
"Have you been down here the entire night?" Harry asked her, Cassandra's eyes never leaving the fire.  
  
"Yea, I have. Sometimes I find it's better to just stay up all night and deal with the pain than go to sleep and wake up countless of times in the middle of the night. Besides, nighttime is the only time when I can think in solitude. Every other time I'm surrounded by people and it's hard for me to think," Cassandra replied her voice unusually raspy.  
  
"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked not believing he had actually had the guts to ask her.  
  
"Just things that's all."  
  
"Would you mind if I asked you to elaborate?"  
  
"I'm just thinking about why I was given all this pains, why I was given to a family that never wanted me why I was chosen to carry. . ." Cassandra's voice died away before she turned around to look at Harry. "It's just been so strange lately."  
  
"What's been so strange?" Harry inquired.  
  
"I don't know. Ever since I've been here, at Hogwarts, I've been having all these memories I've tried so hard to keep locked away but they keep resurfacing. No matter how hard I try, I can't escape my horrible mother and what she did to me. And I think it's been making my conditions worse, but then again Snape's potion has been working wonders," Cassandra explained and Harry could see a solitary tear fall down her face before she wiped it away quickly, "Why are you down here so early?"  
  
"Had another dream," Harry replied shortly.  
  
"About the Diamond?"  
  
"Yes, only it wasn't the Black Diamond," Harry explained and Cassandra tore her eyes away from the fire to give him a strange look. "Some of Voldemort's Death Eaters presented him with a diamond, only it wasn't the Black Diamond, it was the Purple Diamond," Harry explained and he could see Cassandra nod slightly, as if she had known all along. "I hope the Diamond's still safe."  
  
He heard Cassandra muttering something under her breath. It sounded something along the lines of, "Don't worry, its safe." Harry decided not to pursue the matter even more and the two spent the next few hours before dawn and the wakening of the rest of the Gryffindors talking about various things that had happened in their lives.  
  
"You know Cassie up until now I didn't realize how similar we are," Harry explained sometime after five o'clock the sun making its entrance through the western windows.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Cassandra asked. The fire had finally extinguished the light from the sun illuminating the common room.  
  
"We've never truly known our parents, we've been brought up in places that we never want to go back to again and we both have pains that we wish would go away," Harry clarified before he pointed to his scar. Cassandra nodded, letting him know that she understood him. "It's like we have this connection, its something that I don't have with Hermione and Ron. I know for a fact they don't know what I've been through. Both of them still have families they don't know what it's liked not to be loved," Harry said his voice growing bitter. It was true for the most part; Ron and Hermione both had families that loved them with all their hearts. Harry had no one. He would have said Sirius loved him but Sirius was gone and he wasn't coming back no matter how hard Harry wished.  
  
"You think you're not loved?" Cassandra asked her voice registered with shock. Harry hung his head as if agreeing with her question. He heard the girl scoff in disbelief before she spoke again, "Of course you're loved Harry! Ron and Hermione love you, Hagrid loves you, there are dozens of people in this school alone who care about you, Harry. So don't go off saying you aren't loved because you damn well know you are," Cassandra explained her voice deadly serious. "And just because we have this 'connection' as you call it doesn't mean that you should just leave Hermione and Ron hanging. You know they don't deserve it. You know they've been there for you through just about everything you've survived since you came to Hogwarts."  
  
"I wasn't about to leave Hermione and Ron hanging out to dry Cassie. I can't talk to Hermione and Ron about the pains my scar gives me, Hermione would make me go see Dumbledore and Ron would start to panic, thinking Voldemort would come barging through the entrance to Gryffindor Tower at any moment to kill us all. I can't talk to them about death, I can't talk to them about watching my godfather die right in front of my eyes, they wouldn't understand! At least you have an idea as to what it's like!" Harry exclaimed in a loud whisper so he didn't wake the rest of the House.  
  
"You have no idea. . ."Harry heard her mutter under her breath before she pulled out her vial and took a sharp swig of the potion inside making a disgusted face. "I should stop drinking that stuff all together, it's absolutely repulsive," Cassandra said as she slipped the vial back into her robes.  
  
"And have you drop dead in Transfiguration?" Harry said with a small smile. Cassandra gave Harry an impotent, stern look before she let out a tiny laugh shaking her head in disbelief.  
  
"But seriously Harry, if you need to talk, get something off your chest, and you don't want people fawning all over you, throwing you useless advice, let me know and I'll hear you out," Cassandra explained as her laughter died away. Harry nodded and he could see the laughter still twinkling in her eyes. "Wonderful! I have to run; I need to send an owl to a friend of mine," Cassandra explained before she grabbed her bag beside the armchair and headed towards the owlrey. "See you at breakfast!" And with that said, Cassandra hurried out of the common room.  
  
Harry waited patiently for Ron and Hermione to wake up before they headed down to the Great Hall, Harry explaining the dream he had had last night.  
  
"Well that's good, at least Voldemort doesn't have the Black Diamond, he can't do anything right now," Hermione explained before she pulled out the newspaper once more, her face going slightly pale as she looked at the Dark Mark in the sky.  
  
"How is everybody this fine morning?" a voice asked grandly. The three looked up and saw Cassandra bound towards them, her face full of energy and light. She sat down quickly and proceeded to eat, throwing Harry an inconspicuous wink.  
  
"Where have you been?" Ron asked Cassandra as owls started to fly into the Great Hall, dropping off parcels of sweets and letters from home.  
  
"Just been up in the owlrey, sending letters to some friends back in the States, letting them know how horrible I think Hogwarts is," Cassandra said with a joking laugh when she saw Hermione's face of disbelief.  
  
The owl from the Daily Prophet delivered the newspaper and they saw that there were no new leads in the massacre at the museum on Halloween. Some of the names of the victims had been released and everyone stopped what they were doing when they saw the Ravenclaw that had been frantic with worry yesterday, run out of the Great Hall, tears running down her face. Harry frowned; another family was broken apart thanks to Voldemort and his worthless Death Eaters. Harry hoped Macnair was getting a torture to remember. Cassandra shook her head in sympathy and then went back to eating her breakfast.  
  
Since most of their homework was completed, Hermione dragged Ron, Harry and Cassandra to the library to look up information on the Black Diamond. They had been searching all morning when the lunch bell rang, their hands empty and their brains vacant with information. They had found nothing on the Black Diamond and they had searched through the entire 'Magical Stones' section of the library with no such luck.  
  
Hermione was in a bad mood all the rest of the day. It bothered her that she couldn't find any information about an object in a book and she snapped at anyone who asked her questions about homework.  
  
All too soon, the sun was starting to set and dinner went underway, Harry thinking about his upcoming chat with Remus. Harry wondered if the werewolf had told his brother he was talking with Harry tonight. He had never heard Remus talk about his brother; Harry didn't realize he had had a brother until this year.  
  
Harry enjoyed Romulus Lupin's class thoroughly, the whole class was learning a great deal about the curses of dark wizards and witches, Romulus almost seemed to be preparing them for battle the way he carried on about to always be on alert. He almost reminded Harry of the Imposter Moody in his fourth year and how he would always scream out, "CONSTANT VILIGANCE!" whenever he got the chance.  
  
A sudden laughter made Harry come out of his thoughts and he looked around to find the source of the laughter. Harry could see Neville mustering up his nerve to talk to Cassandra and when he finally said something, he squeaked out loud causing Cassandra to laugh and also making Neville turn a shocking shade of bright pink.  
  
Harry watched as Ron threw Cassandra a look as if to say 'I told you so' and Cassandra just shrugged before she tried to talk to Neville about the fast approaching Quidditch game. Neville could only nod or shake his head while Cassandra was talking to him and Harry heard a few words escape his mouth but they only sounded like 'uh huh,' or 'no.' Hermione rolled her eyes before she started to talk to Ron about why he and Harry should drop Divination and join her in Arithmancy.  
  
Half an hour later, the dishes all cleaned and polished, the group of sixth years headed up to the Gryffindor common room to finish any last bits of homework and to talk about the upcoming Christmas holidays. Cassandra was talking at length about Thanksgiving, an American holiday that surprised a lot of the students that were born to wizard families.  
  
"You mean you cook all day and eat just to give thanks for things?" Ron asked incredulously before Seamus muttered the password and the Fat Lady swung open, permitting their admittance into the common room.  
  
"That's the gist of it, but this'll be the first time I'm not celebrating Thanksgiving, at WillowBoil the headmaster would have line dancing turkeys and have the pheasant reenact the First Thanksgiving, we'd all wear cornucopias on our heads. Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays aside from Christmas and Halloween," Cassandra clarified as she, Ron, Harry, and Hermione all sat down at one of the tables to finish their Dark Arts homework.  
  
"Can you believe some of these curses? They're so horrible! How could anybody do this to another person?" Hermione asked horrified as she flipped through some of the pages in their Dark Arts text books.  
  
"Very easily," Harry muttered as he thought back to his fourth year and last year in the Department of Mysteries. Harry knew how it felt to have the Unforgivable Curses put upon him. He had suffered from the Imperious Curse from Professor Moody in his fourth year; he had been put under the Cruciatus Curse not only during his fourth year, but his fifth year as well. And then there was the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. He knew that Voldemort had tried to attack him with the curse far more times than he could remember, and he had survived them all. From the time he was a baby when he first blocked the curse to his fourth and fifth year, Voldemort had tried to kill him with the very curse that killed his parents, but he had failed every time. He didn't want Voldemort to try it a fourth time; he didn't want him to try ever again.  
  
Hours passed and around nine o'clock the common room started to clear out, all of the students extremely tired from the day's activities. Ron and Hermione stayed with Harry until half past eleven, both wishing him the best of luck before they headed up to their respected dormitories.  
  
Cassandra had gone up to her dormitory earlier, trying hard to conceal her pain as she trotted up the stairs, drinking from her vial as she went. Harry could tell her heart was still ailing her and he begged her earlier in the night to go see Snape for a better potion.  
  
"It's the best he can do, Harry. Don't worry about it okay? Believe me the pain is much better than it has been," Cassandra explained throwing off Harry's worries as if they were nothing.  
  
At five minutes to eleven, Harry walked over to the fireplace and sat down on a large, overstuffed armchair facing the fire. He thought for a while, thinking about what he would say to his father's old friend. Thirty seconds to go until midnight . . . should he talk to him about Cassandra and her sickness? He knew he shouldn't, he had promised her that he wouldn't tell anybody. Ten seconds to go . . . would they talk about the Halloween massacre? Five seconds. . . what about his brother Romulus Lupin? Would they talk to him? Two seconds . . . and should Harry talk about his dreams of the Black Diamond and Voldemort's quest to find it?  
  
The large clock in the common room struck midnight and Harry looked intently into the fire waiting to catch a glimpse of the older man. And as the last bell struck midnight, a face popped into the fireplace and Harry found himself staring at Remus Lupin or Moony, the last of the Marauders.  
  
"Hello, Harry," Lupin said, the man giving the teenaged boy a toothy grin. Harry could still see the gray hairs that were lining his brown hair but there was still youth left in his amber eyes.  
  
"Hi Moony," Harry answered back shifting his weight in his chair excitedly.  
  
"H-how are you holding up?" Lupin stammered before he looked down, no doubt at his shoes. Harry knew exactly what Lupin was talking about. Even though Harry took Sirius' death extremely hard, he couldn't help but think that Remus took it harder. He had lost James fifteen years ago and now he had lost his best friend just that summer. While Harry spent his summer at the Black House, Lupin had spent most of his time in seclusion closing himself up in his room with multiple things to keep him occupied, no doubt things of Sirius', things that Lupin could remember him by.  
  
"Alright I guess what about you?" Harry asked his voice extremely sincere.  
  
"The holes are closing up, I'm feeling better about it," Lupin answered, "So, how do you like your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"  
  
"Why didn't you tell me that your twin brother was going to be teaching this year?" asked Harry his smile widening.  
  
"I wanted to surprise you, wanted you to think it was me for a split second," Lupin explained a smile twitching on his lips.  
  
"You almost had me fooled. How come I haven't seen him at Sirius' house at all? Isn't he in the Order?"  
  
"In a way yes, he was abroad when you were at Order headquarters somewhere to the west of England, Dumbledore wouldn't tell us where he went although I have an idea . . . but that's not important. Did you receive the news about the massacre on Halloween?"  
  
Harry nodded and shook his head in sympathy for the people who had lost their lives. "One of the Ravenclaw students had an older brother who died, along with his family," Harry explained before he growled under his breath.  
  
"Entire families are being ripped apart because of him. There's chaos at the Ministry because of these attacks, and the Order is working overtime to try to find the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. We just hope he doesn't find what he was looking for in that museum," Lupin explicated.  
  
"You mean the Black Diamond?" Harry questioned. Maybe he would be getting some answers about the diamond.  
  
"How did you know about the Diamond?" Lupin asked in disbelief.  
  
"I've been having dreams again, this time Voldemort wants the Black Diamond and he's sent out all his Death Eaters to try and find it. He said they would attack the ministry as soon as he had the Black Diamond," Harry elucidated as he stared at Lupin's shocked face.  
  
"I don't know why he wants the Diamond. Dumbledore only told us that it had powers we could only dream about. I hope to God, Voldemort didn't get it at the museum," Lupin said in forceful words.  
  
"He didn't. The Black Diamond wasn't at the museum in Diagon Alley. It was the Purple Diamond. He tortured Macnair because he failed to bring him to wrong Diamond. He was pretty mad," Harry said before a shiver went up his spine at the thought of his previous dream.  
  
"Of course Dumbledore would know where the Diamond is. He knows just about everything that's going on in Voldemort's inner circle, thanks to the spy we have in there."  
  
"You mean Snape?" Harry asked.  
  
Lupin stayed silent for a moment before he nodded his head and made Harry swear not to tell anybody about the mole in the Dark Lord's circle. "But I'm sure Dumbledore has the Diamond somewhere safe, or he knows where it is. That man knows everything you know," Lupin said with a smile.  
  
A sudden thud from the girls' dormitory made Lupin and Harry look at each other, fear etched into their faces. "You'd better go, I think there'd be quite a scene if someone came down here to see a grown man's face in the fire," Harry advised.  
  
Lupin nodded and gave Harry a smile. He was just saying goodbye when Tonks appeared in the fire next to Lupin, her hair now long and curly. "Hiya Harry! Long time no see!" Tonks said happily as she turned to look at Lupin. "Before I forget, you have a letter from Cassand . . ."  
  
"Thank you Tonks," Lupin said cutting the young Auror off abruptly. "I'm going to take off, Harry. I need to inform the Order about the news you gave me. If you have anymore dreams, go straight to Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. Be good in school Harry, we'll keep in touch," Lupin said hastily before there was a pop and he was gone.  
  
The noises coming from the girls' dormitory were becoming louder, almost as if someone was coming down the stairs. Harry hoped that no one was listening in on his conversation with Remus Lupin. He turned around and peered around his armchair, looking at the steps that led up to the dormitory.  
  
Harry held his breath as he watched a tall figure walk down the stairs in a hunched posture. He could hear tiny sobs and moans of pain as the shadow tumbled down the stairs, stifling a scream.  
  
The figure walked into the firelight and Harry tried to press himself against the armchair, to make himself less noticeable. Harry instantly recognized the person to be Cassandra White, her face drained of any source of emotion except pain. She was as white as a ghost and Harry could see the tears flowing down her face as she clutched her heart in pain. She suppressed yet another loud scream as she walked past Harry and out the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
Harry thought of going after the young witch, to make sure she would be okay, but something told him not to. He had a feeling that if he was alone with Cassandra, he would ask her if she had anything to do with Remus Lupin and if she did, why was she sending him letters that Harry wasn't supposed to know about?  
  
Knowing he would have to wake up early the next morning to prepare for his classes, Harry started up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, Cassandra's screams from the hallway outside Gryffindor Tower echoing through the common room. 


	12. Shocking Surprises

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I am so lucky to have readers like you guys!  
  
Lily Skylo: Thanks so much for your kind words! You will find out what the pain is in due time, just be a bit more patient!  
  
Ronit: Thank you tons for emailing me your suspicions and I'm glad you're going to continue to read it!  
  
Snivellus: Yay you're back! I missed reading your story and I missed hearing from you! Glad to see you came back! And thank you for your wonderful reviews! They're the bestest! I'm sorry Harry didn't get to kick or punch Ron lol but maybe he will later? I don't know.  
  
Well, I probably won't update unless I get about oh say 30 reviews.  
  
Happy Reading!  
  
~Aislin  
  
12. Shocking Surprises  
  
The next day at breakfast, Harry explained his conversation with Lupin and Tonks' sudden appearance with enthusiasm. Hermione looked at Harry; perplexed thinking about a logical answer to Harry's bursting questions. Ron looked absolutely amazed that Lupin was in contact with Cassandra and wanted to know why she was in contact with their ex- professor.  
  
"But why did she come downstairs screaming and crying?" Hermione asked Harry giving him a questioning glance. It was then Harry could feel the bottom of his stomach give out from underneath him. He hadn't realized he had told Hermione and Ron that the reason his conversation with Lupin was cut short was because Cassandra made an unscheduled appearance, and hadn't even noticed Harry because she was in an extreme amount of pain.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe she saw her mark for that potion's exam," Harry explained trying his best to get himself out of this awful confrontation.  
  
"Since when has Cassie been concerned with her potion grade?" Hermione asked her eyes hardening. She knew Harry was lying to her and she crossed her arms before she gave him another one of her accusing looks. "Harry what's going on?"  
  
"None of your business Hermione," a voice said behind Harry. Harry turned around quickly and saw Cassandra shooting a spiteful glare at Hermione and an accusing glance at Harry.  
  
"Glad you could join us Cassie," Hermione said her voice growing cold, "Been writing to your good friend Remus lately?" she asked as if it were regular conversation.  
  
"Who?" Cassandra asked clearly confused.  
  
"Remus, Remus Lupin. . . have you been writing to him?" Hermione asked her voice rising.  
  
"Oh you mean Professor Lupin's brother?" Cassandra asked the light coming to her face.  
  
"Yes, have you been writing to him?"  
  
"Of course I have!" Cassandra said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The three of them looked at Cassandra in shock as she sat down and began to eat.  
  
"Why have you been writing to him?"  
  
"Well, he and his brother did accompany me from WillowBoil to Hogwarts; I stayed with them for the summer. Romulus took care of me for the most part, seeing as Remus leaves once a month for certain . . . things," Cassandra explained, "We've been writing to each other so he knows I'm adjusting well into Hogwarts."  
  
Hermione looked flabbergasted at Cassandra as she ate rapidly her eyes shining brightly as if everything were a huge joke, "But thank you for the third degree, Hermione. We should do that more often, really jolts my brain for the day. See you in Potions," Cassandra said throwing Harry a wink before she downed the rest of her pumpkin juice and hurried out of the Great Hall.  
  
"What the hell was that about?" Ron asked in disbelief. Hermione shook her head and muttered something about idiot American girls before she too excused herself from the table to go and look things up in the library.  
  
"But it's only eight o' clock in the morning! Why the ruddy hell would she want to go to the library this early?" Ron questioned Harry who merely shrugged his head and went back to reading about Fearless Charms.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Harry and Ron found themselves sitting down in Snape's classroom, Hermione on the right of Ron. Harry looked around to see if he could catch a glimpse of Cassandra, hoping she wasn't mad at him for almost spilling her secret. It came to quite a shock when he realized that Cassandra wasn't in Potions at all and when Professor Snape came into the room, he had a feeling Cassandra wouldn't be coming to class.  
  
"We're working on the Confusion Concoction today, one of the most difficult potions you will have to work on probably this entire year," Snape explained before he rested a hand on Neville's table, giving him a sneering look, "There's no one here to stand up for you today Mr. Longbottom." Neville looked at Snape in fear and he gulped down a lump in his throat before he looked up at the blackboard and started to copy down the instructions for the potion. Neville looked petrified as he started to cut up his flobberworm ends, placing them into his cauldron of boiling water.  
  
"Harry do you know Cassie was writing to Lupin?" Hermione asked in a hush voice while she was stirring her potion counter clockwise.  
  
"Not until today when she told us about it," Harry answered before he looked up at the board once more. Spiced Dragonflies needed to be added into his potion.  
  
"And what about the pains she's been having Harry? Do you know anything about that? Why is she even having pains?" Hermione countered as she stared at him with utmost sincerity.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Come off it Harry I know you know what is going on with Cassie, she told you something didn't she? What did she tell you? What's so important that she made you keep it from your friends?"  
  
"If you are quite finished with your interrogation of Mr. Potter, perhaps you could try to finish your potion. Fifteen points from Gryffindor," a silky voice sneered from above them. Harry and Hermione looked up to see Professor Snape standing above them, a leering smile plastered on his face. Hermione mumbled her apologies and went back to her potion quickly. Expecting Snape to turn around and torture Neville who was already having trouble with his Confusion Concoction, Harry went back to his work. A throat cleared above him and Harry looked up once more to see Snape giving him a malicious glare. "I'd like to see you after class Mr. Potter," he said quietly before he turned around to give Neville unmerciful hell.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Fifteen points from Gryffindor deducted and an extremely terrified Neville Longbottom later, the sixth year Slytherins and Gryffindors filed out of the potions dungeon, heading to their next classes. Ron and Hermione promised they would wait for Harry after his interrogation with Professor Snape but Harry sent them ahead. He had a feeling Hermione would question him about Cassandra's heart condition and Ron would curse Snape's name and Harry didn't want anymore points deducted from Gryffindor.  
  
Snape beckoned Harry into his office, the Potion's Master was slouched over his desk writing something on a piece of parchment. Harry saw a large cauldron sitting in the back of the office, a terrible and disgusting smell coming from the black cauldron. Harry could see the black smoke rising and he had an idea as to what the potion was.  
  
"So," Snape began as he looked up at Harry. The boy could tell Snape was getting agitated, "Saint Potter has decided to stick his nose in another person's business. What do you know about her condition?"  
  
Harry, knowing who he was talking about, opened his mouth to speak but the door opened and Cassandra walked in, a sort of pained look on her face. Harry saw Snape's mouth curl into a vicious sneer as Cassandra gave Harry a confusing look before she walked up to the Professor and held out the empty vial.  
  
"Here you are Professor, thought you'd might like to refill that for me," Cassandra said, her blue eyes shining brightly as the professor took the vial from her hands and walked towards the vat in the back of the room.  
  
"Thank you Miss White, are you sure you want me to fill this up with him in the room?" Professor Snape asked throwing a hand towards Harry.  
  
"I don't care, he already knows about my heart problems," Cassandra said carelessly throwing Harry a look that seemed to be asking, 'Why are you in Snape's office?'  
  
"Then surely you'd care if I told you he almost spilled the secret of your heart condition to that loud mouth Miss Granger?" Snape asked as he filled up her vial.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" Cassandra asked looking at Snape in disbelief and throwing Harry another confused look.  
  
"Your nosy friend Miss Granger kept questioning Potter about your conditions, and he almost told her everything," Professor Snape explained a large sneer coming over his face. Harry could feel his insides go cold as Cassie turned to look at Harry, her face twisted in anger.  
  
"You know you promise me that you wouldn't tell anyone Harry. What the hell is your problem?" Cassandra asked her voice rising, her eyes like to cold blue stones of ice.  
  
"I wasn't going to tell her, Cassie," Harry exclaimed, he could hear someone coughing; it sounded like Snape was snickering.  
  
"Like hell you weren't. I trusted you Harry. . ."  
  
"I told you running around at night screaming about your pains wasn't a good idea, someone was bound to figure it out," Snape explained as he crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"Shut up Snape nobody asked for your opinion!" Cassie snapped her face contorting into an unrecognizable mask of anger, "Just give me my damn potion so I can go to my next class."  
  
Harry watched in shock as Snape succumbed to her wishes and gave her the vial, now filled with its black contents. She snatched it from his grasp and hurried from the room, shooting Harry a malevolent look as she passed.  
  
"Don't tell anyone about her condition, Potter or you'll have me to deal with," Snape explained coldly before Harry was excused. Harry hurried out of the room and jogged to his Dark Arts class, praying he wasn't late.  
  
When Harry arrived in Professor Lupin's class, most of the students were already situated around the room. Harry searched the room, trying to find Cassandra but he only saw Hermione and Ron waving to him frantically begging to know what happened in Snape's office. Harry finally saw Cassandra enter the room right as the late bell sounded. She threw him a dirty look before she sat down in the very back of the room a dark look settling on her face.  
  
"What happened with Snape?" Hermione asked fiercely as the class waited for Professor Lupin to begin the lesson.  
  
"Nothing, but you did get Cassie downright pissed at me," Harry explained sourly before he got out his text book and opened it up, deciding to ignore Hermione.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked in a shocked voice. She grabbed Harry's book and closed it, forcing him to look at her. "Why is she mad at you?"  
  
"Maybe because you're being too nosy for your own good," Harry muttered as he took the book back from Hermione.  
  
"Easy there, Harry. What's wrong?" Ron asked coming to Hermione's defense.  
  
"Snape convinced Cassandra that I was going to tell you her secret and she got extremely irked at me," Harry explained before he looked back at Cassandra, she ignored him.  
  
"What did she do?" Ron asked.  
  
"Well, she did tell Snape to shut up," Harry added with a smile, "and he didn't take off any points whatsoever." Ron looked like someone had smacked him in the face.  
  
"She told him to shut up, and he didn't take off any points?" he asked flabbergasted, "She's my hero."  
  
"Yeah well she's probably mad at me and Hermione so you can go off and worship your hero," Harry explained somberly before Professor Lupin walked into the room a smile plastered on his face.  
  
The class had passed their exams about the more advanced dark creatures with flying colors and now they were delving into the Dark Wizard and his curses. "Books away, wands out," Lupin announced which made all of the students smile. "Today," Romulus announced as he sat on top of his desk, "we're going to be practicing some of the curses that a Dark Wizard, not a major threat to the wizarding world mind you, uses. Do I have any volunteers?" No one raised their hands, they knew that sixth and seventh years researched the curses and the dark arts more than the rest of the school but no one could believe that they were finally there, in sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the teacher asking someone to be his victim. "Ah, Miss White, you seem very agitated today, why don't you come up here and demonstrate some dueling attacks with me?" Romulus requested. Harry could hear Cassandra mumble to herself before she walked to the front of the room, a displeased look on her face. "If you could so kindly move the desks to the back of the room and stay there, I'm afraid we'll need some room," Lupin advised. The students obliged and once they were situated in the back of the room, Lupin and Cassandra took their ready positions.  
  
"I've heard WillowBoil Academy is known for its excellent Dark Arts classes as well as their dueling classes as well," Lupin announced to the class, "Let's see what our transfer student can do."  
  
Without warning Cassandra jumped forward and shouted out, "Impedimenta!" Lupin flew back and landed on soft cushions that had been placed around the classroom earlier. Lupin jumped back up to his feet and brushed his hair out of his eyes. He scowled at Cassandra, "You weren't supposed to start until I counted to three," he exclaimed loudly.  
  
"Do you think that if you're dueling a dark wizard they're going to count to three?" Cassandra asked with a smile before she drew her wand back again, "Expelliarmus!" But this time, Lupin was prepared, just as she shouted out the disarming charm, Lupin screamed out, "Protego!" and the spell was deflected off of the professor, totally unaffecting him.  
  
And so for about twenty minutes the two went back and forth, shouting out charms and curses the students had learned in their first five years of school. When finally, Lupin halted their duel and looked at her, a serious look on his face.  
  
"Familiar with some of the Dark Curses?" he asked her with a mischievous smile on his face. "Ready for those?"  
  
Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, a look of panic in her face, "Some of those curses are illegal!" she proclaimed before she looked back at the witch and wizard battling at the front of room.  
  
"Ready when you are Professor," she said the same smile stretched on her face. The two circled around each other, deadly serious looks on their faces. Finally, Cassandra stepped forward and shouted, "Bloodatus!" Lupin was thrown off his feet and when he got back to his feet, Hermione and many of the girls screamed. A large gash had appeared on Lupin's forehead, blood spilling out. He looked like he was in some amount of pain before he quickly pointed his wand to his face and muttered, "Clotarmus.' The blood immediately started to clot and he was left with a nasty looking scab.  
  
"Tormentaramus!" Lupin yelled loudly before a blast of yellow sparks hit Cassie square in the chest.  
  
"That's like the Cruciatus curse only less severe, it's banned!" Hermione whispered fervently. Many of the students gasped in shock, expecting to see Cassandra drop to the floor in pain but it didn't happen. She was laughing. Laughing so hard that tears were rolling down her cheeks, it was if the Tormentaramus curse hadn't affected her at all. Lupin nodded in understanding before he smiled once more.  
  
"Crucio." The class erupted into screams. Any teacher who put any of the Unforgivable Curses on the students was likely to get sacked and sent off to Azkaban. But there was the exception of the imposter Moody in their fourth year who used the Imperius Curse to teach them to throw it off completely. The students watched in horror as Cassandra dropped to her knees and offered a tiny scream of pain. Harry shook his head. This wasn't how people acted when they were put under the Cruciatus Curse. He should know he was put under it many times. There was no explaining the pain one felt when placed under that curse. They watched flabbergasted as Cassandra yelled the same curse at their teacher.  
  
Lupin dropped to the ground, withering in pain and screaming with agony. Cassandra lifted the curse immediately and gave him an apologetic look. Wasting no time, Lupin rose to his feet as fast as he could. "KEEPASORIA!" He bellowed as loud as he could. A stream of white light smacked Cassandra square in the heart. A look of shock and pain overcame the laughter on her face and she uttered the loudest scream Harry had ever heard. Her face turned a deathly white before she fell to her knees and started to gag, clutching her chest, clawing at her heart, as if she were trying to rip it out.  
  
A look of horror passed over Professor Lupin's face and he immediately lifted the curse off of the student. Cassandra fell face first onto the floor, a trickle of blood coming out the side of her mouth.  
  
"C-c-c-class d-dismissed," Lupin stammered, his face almost as pale as Cassandra's. Not wanting to leave their fellow student, the sixth year Gryffindors all lingered around the classroom. "I SAID CLASS DISMISSED!" Lupin screamed out making all the students jump before they rushed out of the classroom.  
  
Harry waited outside the classroom, hoping Lupin was able to revive Cassandra so he could have a word with her. Hermione and Ron stayed by his side, talking about the events that had happened in the classroom.  
  
"What was that curse he yelled? 'Keepasoria? I've never heard of that curse before in my life," Hermione explained, "It's not even in our text book."  
  
"Well, like Harry said, she does have pains, maybe she has a heart condition," Ron suggested before he looked at Harry trying to see if he had guessed right.  
  
Harry was about to answer him when Professor Lupin walked out of his classroom, Cassandra placed on a magic stretcher. Her hair was matted to her head with sweat, her face still deathly pale. Her eyes were closed and it looked like she was in a dreamless sleep. Harry could see that the blood that was creeping out of her mouth was cleared away and there was a slight residue of black liquid around her lips.  
  
"Is she alright Professor?" Harry asked as he and his two friends surrounded the unconscious girl.  
  
"I think she'll be fine. I'm just taking her to the hospital wing so Madame Pomfrey can have a look at her," Lupin explained to the three students.  
  
"Won't she get expelled? Won't you get fired?" Hermione asked suddenly.  
  
"Why would that happen Miss Granger?"  
  
"Both of you used one of the Unforgivable Curses. That means time in Azkaban."  
  
"I will ask you not to worry about that Miss Granger. Now, I think you must be getting to your next class," Lupin explained excusing himself and the unconscious girl.  
  
"That was a bit weird don't you think?" Harry asked as they headed towards Herbology.  
  
"A little too weird." Hermione whispered back.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The story of Cassandra White and Romulus Lupin's duel spread through the school like wildfire. By lunchtime not only was the Gryffindor table discussing it, but the other three house tables as well. Everyone was extremely shocked when Cassandra entered the Great Hall near the end of lunch, looking as though the duel demonstration with the Dark Arts teacher had never happened. Many of the Gryffindors surrounded her as soon as she sat down, asking her questions about the fight with a fully trained wizard.  
  
"Did it hurt? What was it like being under the Cruciatus Curse?"  
  
"How badly did you beat Lupin up?"  
  
"Hey there's a fourth year in Slytherin I don't like. Do you think you could . . ."  
  
Harry decided to block out everything at the moment as he tried to figure out Cassandra's relationship with the Lupin brothers. Harry recalled the time when Malfoy had cursed Cassie in the hallway sending her into a kind of short lived coma. He remembered that Cassie had almost called the Professor by his first name and they were heading towards their first Dark Arts lesson that day. They hadn't even met Romulus Lupin until that very day. The second time was just the other night when he was talking to Remus Lupin in the fire up in the Gryffindor common room. Why was Remus Lupin in contact with Cassandra? Was he really making sure she was doing okay in Hogwarts? Couldn't Cassie just go to Professor Lupin in his office to inform him about any of her discomforts?  
  
"Hey Harry, Ron, we have Quidditch practice this afternoon," Ginny explained to her older brother and his friend. "I don't know if I should tell Cassie, I think she's been through enough for one day."  
  
"I think she already knows," Ron muttered. Sure enough, Dean Thomas was sitting next to Cassie, explaining about the Quidditch practice and who was going to win the upcoming game between Ravenclaw and Slytherin.  
  
"She's going to kill herself one of these days," Hermione muttered under her breath.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The rest of the day went by smoothly. Katie Bell was extremely happy with the practice that afternoon; she complimented Neville and Cassie on their exceptional playing and explained to her team that she had high hopes for the Quidditch team during the rest of the year.  
  
"We all know that Slytherin is going to flatten Ravenclaw. Even though their Nimbus brooms are outdated by three years, they're still pretty good. But with Harry's broom we should be just fine."  
  
And so the weekend arrived, the first bit of frost arriving on the ground the morning of the Slytherin-Ravenclaw game. Katie had predicted correctly; Slytherin had steamrolled Ravenclaw, two hundred seventeen to ninety. And as the Slytherins gloated about their win all through the next week, Harry hoped they would beat Hufflepuff just so they could put the Slytherin Quidditch team on their guard.  
  
It was two weeks after Cassie's duel with Professor Lupin and she was still upset at Harry and Hermione. She would talk to Ron, but not with the usual gusto she had when all four of them weren't upset at one another. She completely ignored Harry and Hermione during meals and even in the common room, opting for a large armchair far away from the fire and even further away from the usual social hubbub of the common room.  
  
The day of the match against Hufflepuff dawned bright and sunny, with a hint of a strong breeze that would pass through the trees in the Forbidden Forest. After they ate their breakfast, the seven Gryffindor Quidditch players headed down to the locker rooms to get ready for the game.  
  
Neville appeared to be paler than the Bloody Baron as he fixed his arm padding a lump rising in his throat. Cassie on the other hand was extremely calm for it being her first game of the season. Ron was just about as calm as Harry, who was polishing the handle on his Firebolt right before Katie entered the locker room, a grim look settled onto her face.  
  
"I know we have the best team in this entire school and I know we'll do just fine out there, so everyone just do their best. Neville and Cassie, I want you all over those Bludgers. Ron, keep your eye on the Quaffle. Ginny, Dean and myself will handle all the scoring and Harry, you just keep your eyes out for the snitch. The sooner you catch it the better off we'll be. Good luck everyone," Katie said before she picked up her broom and the team walked calmly out onto the pitch.  
  
The crowd was yelling loudly as the fourteen players mounted their brooms, Madame Hooch releasing all the balls save the Quaffle. She blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air.  
  
"The second Quidditch game of the season has begun! Weasly takes the Quaffle and passes it off to Thomas . . . oh! Nearly got hit by that bludger there Ginny but thanks to Cassandra White, Hogwarts' new transfer student she was saved from a rather nasty collision. It's a shocker that White can play Quidditch. In the States they usually play Qudpot which consists of . . ."  
  
"Mr. Finnigan, I asked you to take this position because you weren't chosen to be on the house team. I didn't ask you to tell us about different sports played on broomsticks," Professor McGonagall commented to the sixth year Gryffindor who had replaced Lee Jordan as the commentator for the Quidditch Games.  
  
"Sorry there professor. Thomas passes the Quaffle to Bell, the Gryffindor captain. She approaches the Hufflepuff Keeper . . .TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" Seamus Finnigan screamed before ten points appeared on the score board. The crowd roared as the game resumed, the Hufflepuff Chasers grabbing the Quaffle, heading towards Ron who was watching the Quaffle with an immense sort of hunger.  
  
Harry circled around the pitch, trying to catch a glimpse of the Golden Snitch but it was not such luck. Instead he watched the game for a moment, his eyes searching the pitch every so often. He watched as one of the Chasers from Hufflepuff, Derek Tames approach Ron with the Quaffle. He knew Ron was improving immensely in practices but he still couldn't help but feel that Ron wasn't nearly as good as Oliver Wood.  
  
"I don't believe it! Gryffindor Beater, Cassandra White smashes the Bludger into Tames' path! The Quaffle is stolen by Ginny Weasly . . .wonderful hit made by White!" Seamus yelled excitedly into the microphone.  
  
Indeed Cassie had appeared out of nowhere and smacked a bludger straight into Derek Tames' flight path. She had hit the ball with such accuracy it could have put Fred and George to shame. Harry looked around and saw that Neville was having troubles approaching the Bludger. Every time the black ball came near him he would duck his head and place his club in the air, trying to blindly hit the Bludger.  
  
Harry could hear a lot of the Slytherins laughing at their newly acquired Beater and even from his position fifty feet above the pitch; Harry could see that Neville had acquired a rather heavy blush.  
  
The game proceeded and Harry clapped with the rest of the spectators as Gryffindor pulled ahead, fifty to twenty. He circled around the pitch a few times to throw off his jitters when he saw one of the Beaters from Hufflepuff smash a Bludger in his direction.  
  
"Neville, get that ball!" someone screamed from the pitch. Harry knew that he couldn't outrun the ball; even on his trusty broomstick the Bludger was too close. He watched as Neville made a sorry attempt to go after Harry, his Cleansweep Seven was so slow even the Bludger was out flying him.  
  
A sudden blur of scarlet and gold shot in front of Harry, brandishing a club before it smacked the ball away from him, hitting the tail of the opposite team's broom. Harry watched Cassie fly away from him, heading after Neville, probably giving him a pep talk to go after the Bludger more.  
  
"And White makes a spectacular move that probably saves the Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter! This girl can certainly whack the heck out of that Bludger!" Seamus screamed in excitement. Cassie was a blur around the pitch as she smacked the balls all over the place, away from her teammates and towards the Hufflepuff team.  
  
Neville was trying his best to measure up to Cassie but at the rate she was going it looked as if Gryffindor only needed one Beater. He could see Cassie's face as she smacked a Bludger towards the Hufflepuff Captain. There was so much anger in her face Harry thought she could kill someone. All of a sudden, Harry saw Justin Finch-Fletchly, the Hufflepuff seeker, dive down from his position a few feet above Harry. Harry looked down and saw the snitch, zipping around Neville's head.  
  
The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were screaming as Harry went into a spectacular dive gaining on Justin in a matter of minutes. They were neck and neck as he pulled up along side of Justin, arm outstretched, his fingers inches from the Golden Snitch. They were approaching the ground at a breakneck speed before Justin finally pulled out leaving Harry to grab the snitch and end the game.  
  
The Gryffindors went wild with excitement as Harry held his right hand up, the snitch held firmly in his grasp. The Gryffindor team sank to the earth, happy and ecstatic that they had bulldozed Hufflepuff in the first game.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR WIND THREE HUNDRED FIFTY TO THIRTY!" Seamus cried happily into the microphone, his voice almost lost over the screams of the crowd.  
  
"Great job team! Great job! Let's hit the showers!" Katie exclaimed happily as she dismounted her broom and put her arm around Cassie, beaming brightly. "Amazing defense there Cassandra! If you just work a bit with Neville you could give Fred and George a run for their money!"  
  
"I don't think that's possible Katie," a happy go-lucky voice exclaimed from behind her. She jumped and turned around in one swift movement to see Fred and George Weasly, dressed in expensive sweaters and pants, wearing lurid green dragon skin boots standing behind her idiotic grins on their faces.  
  
"Why are you two here?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest a large smile playing her lips.  
  
"Well, our brother Ron told us about our replacements, wanted to see them for ourselves." Fred explained before he opened his arms grandly and swept Cassandra White in an enormous hug.  
  
"Wonderfully played game if I do say so myself! Absolutely spiffing!" George said happily as he smacked Cassandra on the back.  
  
"The infamous Fred and George I presume?" Cassandra asked the same joking smile on her lips. The twins nodded excitedly before they both put arms around her shoulders and led her away towards the locker rooms.  
  
"Now, Ron has told us about your escapades with Snape. Did you really call him a brainless git?"  
  
"And you really," Fred began before he lowered his voice to a whisper, "single handedly along with Ron's mates, cancelled all the classes?" Cassandra beamed brightly and they both whistled lowly.  
  
"Well, you certainly are trying to replace us. I'll be surprised if someone asks about us in a couple of months and they'll say 'Fred and George who?'" Cassie laughed loudly before she stopped them in the middle of the pitch patting both of them on the back.  
  
"I don't think that's even possible. But hey, as a kind of 'glad to meet you gift,'" Cassie began as she pulled out two cylinder cases and presenting them to the older boys, "have some Every Flavor Beans, they came out with a new case last week."  
  
Fred and George took the cases without question and they tore away at the wrapping surrounding the case before they pried the lids off. Both Fred and George screamed in surprise when a large, plush snake flew out of the cylinder bottles hitting them both square in the nose. The twins retrieved their flying fake snakes and walked back over to Cassie, humongous smiles on their faces before they laughed hysterically.  
  
"What were those?" Fred asked in between laughs as he pushed the snake back in its case.  
  
"They're a kind of prank that some of the muggles use on each other. I visited your shop in Diagon Alley and had a feeling you needed some new material," Cassie explained happily.  
  
"You know, anytime you want to work for us, give us an owl. I have a feeling these babies are gonna put us on the map. Especially if we enchant the snakes to bit people on the nose!" George exclaimed happily before they said goodbye to Cassie to go talk to their younger brother and sister.  
  
Cassie turned around to watch them go, a smile on her face but her gaze landed on Harry and she immediately frowned giving him a nasty look. She turned around quickly and headed towards the locker rooms, her Quidditch robes billowing out behind her as a strong breeze ran through the pitch, sending shivers up Harry's spine.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
There was a large party in the Gryffindor common room that night to celebrate Gryffindor's win against Hufflepuff. They would be up against Ravenclaw after the winter holiday and if they won, they would more than likely face Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup.  
  
Harry kept his distance from Cassandra that night. He had a feeling that she and Hermione had a large row after the game because they couldn't even look at each other. Hermione explained to Harry that after she talked to Cassie, the girl stormed up to the owlrey and stayed in there for the rest of the day. He knew Cassie shouldn't be bothered and she should blow off some steam before he tried to explain things to her again.  
  
The party finally dwindled an hour before midnight. Many of the students headed off to bed, including Hermione and Cassie. Harry stayed up with Ginny and Ron, discussing their plans for the fast approaching winter holidays.  
  
"I think we're all going to- well you know where for Christmas. All our families are there so it should be extremely interesting to have everyone there for the holidays," Ginny explained before she let out an enormous yawn excusing herself to head up to bed.  
  
A few moments later, Harry and Ron unanimously decided to head up to bed leaving their discussions for tomorrow.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"I think we have an idea where the Black Diamond is my lord," the sneaky voice of Wormtail announced through a smoky haze. Harry tried to brush the fog out of his face but it wouldn't work, he was stuck in the fog wandering aimlessly, listening to the voices around him.  
  
"Excellent, Wormtail. I hope you do not fail me you know the consequences if you do," Voldemort said in his high pitched, cold voice.  
  
"Y-y-yes m-m-master. I do know my m-m-master," Wormtail stammered.  
  
"I want that Diamond found by the time June gets here. That should be more than enough time. That way, we can attack the Ministry with my enchanted gem and no one can stand in my way. Not even little Harry Potter. But if you fail me, do know that there are many people who would kill to serve me." Voldemort announced to his Death Eaters. Harry could hear the unanimous agreement from Voldemort's servants and that's when his scar began to burn horribly, Voldemort's laughter echoing through his head.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Harry woke up with a start, his heart pounding and sweat matting his hair down to his head. He grabbed his glasses and put them on. He glanced at his clock and noticed that it was a bit after three o' clock in the morning. Wiping the sweat off his face, Harry put on his bathrobe and left his dormitory and five sleeping roommates behind him.  
  
Once he was out in the hallway, Harry thought he could hear two voices coming from the downstairs common room. Walking silently, hoping not to disturb the two talking voices, Harry made his way down the stairway.  
  
He almost fell down the remaining five stairs when he saw that Remus Lupin was in the fire, talking seriously to a person sitting in a large overstuffed armchair.  
  
"You're sure you want people to know? Wouldn't that be bad for you? I don't want your first year to be horrible for you," Lupin asked his lips pursed together in thought.  
  
"I'm not worried in the least bit Remus. To tell you the truth I really don't care about anything anymore."  
  
"Romulus told me about the game today, told me you did amazing as a Beater, just like your father," Lupin said with a wink.  
  
"Yeah I guess I was," Cassandra White said with a smile.  
  
"Listen, I really need to go. You watch after yourself, I wanted to kill Romulus for making you duel with him. He could have killed you," Remus Lupin said anger edging around his voice.  
  
"It wasn't his fault. I wanted to fight him. Put the old man in his place," Cassie said with a laugh.  
  
"Hey, you best remember that 'old man' is as old as me!" Lupin said with a chuckle. "I'll talk to you next week Cassie."  
  
"Bye," Cassie said before Lupin disappeared with a pop.  
  
Harry continued to walk down the stairs totally forgetting that the third stair from the bottom always creaked if you stepped on it. The quiet croak of the stairs erupted through the silence of the room as if a bomb were exploding.  
  
Cassie turned around quickly her face pale before her eyes narrowed and she scowled. "Oh. It's you."  
  
"Cassie listen," Harry began as he walked towards her, taking a seat on the armchair next to her, "I wasn't going to tell Hermione about anything. She kept asking me about it; Snape blew it way out of proportion. You know how Hermione is, she has to know everything!" Harry explained hoping she would believe him.  
  
He saw her expression soften and she looked into the fire. "How much did you hear?" she asked quietly before she looked at him again.  
  
"What? Your conversation with Lupin?"  
  
"Yeah . . . how much did you hear?" she repeated somberly.  
  
"When he asked you if you wanted people to know about it." Harry explained hoping; praying she would tell him what she was talking about with Remus.  
  
"I think its time I told you a little something about me. I came to Hogwarts not wanting people to know who my parents were. I thought if they knew about my parentage they would freak out. I don't know if you figured out all the clues that I accidentally dropped, calling Romulus by his first name when we didn't even know him, why I was writing to Remus. I thought Hermione was going to figure it out, but she got mixed signals, she thought I was somebody else's kid."  
  
"What are you saying Cassie?" Harry asked he had a feeling he already knew the answer.  
  
"Harry," Cassie began, her blue eyes deadly serious, "Remus Lupin is my father."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
BUM BUM BUM! Ya'll know what to do now (review!) 


	13. Lupin's Daughter

Thank you so, so, so, so much to all who reviewed! It is appreciated so much!  
  
Snivellus: Glad to hear from you again! I don't think you were too shocked about the end to chapter twelve but don't worry, it gets better I promise!  
  
Amber Eyed Wolf: I love Sirius too, he's one of my favorite characters in the books ( I don't want to put 'was' it makes it seem all to real. *sob*)  
  
Hermionedastar: Thanks for checking out my story! It is greatly appreciated and I can't wait to check out yours!  
  
Slippersarefuzzy: Thanks for thinking my story is good! I'm glad some people on the WWW enjoy my works!  
  
Tessa66: Thanks for your reviews! Glad to get new readers! As for hearing more . . . how bout now? Lol  
  
Sorry the chapter is so short, I wanted to get this out straight away and I'm sorry that the chapter title sucks. I've been up since 6:00 AM and its after midnight where I'm at so I'm just a wee bit tired!  
  
And a very Happy Birthday to Harry and J.K. Rowling! Without you guys, I wouldn't be writing this right now!  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
13. Lupin's Daughter  
  
The silence that followed Cassie's statement was deafening to Harry. He could feel his mouth opening to say something but nothing came out. He stared at her in complete shock as she rose from her seat and stood in front of him, waiting for his reply.  
  
"Are you going to say something?" Cassie asked him, knocking Harry out of his thoughts.  
  
"H-h-h-how?" Harry stammered looking at Cassie as if she were a completely different person.  
  
"How what?"  
  
"How are you his daughter? He's a werewolf and everyone knows werewolves can't have children." Harry explained finally finding his voice.  
  
He heard Cassie sigh before she looked back into the fire as if remembering a memory from long ago. "I was special, Harry. There was a special potion that my father made to make him all human for one night. The ingredients are extinct now, there's no way he could make it again," Cassie explained when Harry opened his mouth to object; "He did it for my mother. My mother found out he was a werewolf shortly after and she didn't communicate with him after that. That's why I was born with a heart condition, because I have a bit of werewolf in my veins."  
  
"But, you haven't been changing at all have you? Into a werewolf I mean," Harry asked as he pressed himself back into the chair a bit more.  
  
"No. I can't change because of the potion he took sixteen years ago. I'm one hundred percent pure human. That's why Snape makes me the potion. He's made my father's Wolfsbane potion for almost three years now. He makes the potion to help with my heart condition."  
  
"But why do you have a heart condition?"  
  
"Because the extremely tiny part of me that's werewolf wants to change. That's why I hurt so much. And it doesn't even happen when it's a full moon. It happens all the time."  
  
"That's why you've been writing to him hasn't it? To inform him about your heart condition right?" Harry asked.  
  
"In a way yes, I also do it so he can check up on me once in a while, to make sure I'm doing alright."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"That's why Romulus was freaking out when we dueled. He thought he killed his niece and he knew that Remus would kill him," Cassie explained with a small chuckle.  
  
"When did you just find out he was your father?"  
  
"When they came to fetch me at the end of my fifth year at WillowBoil they told me that Remus was my father."  
  
"Why didn't he try to contact you before?"  
  
"Because my mother broke off all contact with him after she found out he was a werewolf. She didn't want her only child to know her father was a freak," Cassandra explained sadly. "She tried to kill me because of my heart pains, she thought I was going to transform into a werewolf."  
  
"Wow. Don't worry Cassie, I won't tell anyone," Harry swore holding up his hand.  
  
"I don't care anymore Harry. Its time people know that Remus is my father. Granted some of them will freak out and some of their parents will try to get me expelled but believe me, I'm not going anywhere. Not for a while anyway. You can tell Hermione and Ron tomorrow." Cassie explained before she sat back down in her armchair, watching the dwindling fire. "Does that answer a lot of your questions?"  
  
"Why do you call him Remus if he's your father?" Harry asked turning to look at her.  
  
"Harry, I've only known the man for five months, it seems a bit strange to call him 'dad' or 'father' when he's been absent in my life for almost seventeen years." Cassandra answered back, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed something tells me I'm going to be having a big day today."  
  
Cassie left Harry in the common room, heading for her dormitory the sleep showing vividly in her eyes. Harry put his head in his hand, feeling extremely confused.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It seemed like everyone knew about Cassandra's parentage when Harry woke up that morning and headed down to breakfast. All the students at each of the tables had their heads together, looking over at the Gryffindor table. Harry noticed that Cassandra hadn't made an appearance at breakfast yet.  
  
Harry sat down in between Ron and Hermione noticing their oblivious faces to what was going around them. "Did you guys hear?" Harry asked looking at them questionably.  
  
"'Bout what?" Ron asked as he looked over the 'Daily Prophet'  
  
"About Cassandra about her father," Harry explained. Ron and Hermione stopped what they were doing to look at Harry, confusion plastered all over their faces. "Remus Lupin is her dad."  
  
"What?" Ron screeched, a bit of eggs hanging out the side of his mouth as he looked at Harry in shock. Hermione looked to be in a state of shock "You can't be serious!"  
  
"I am being serious, Ron. Lupin is her father."  
  
"But he's a werewolf! I don't believe it!" Ron muttered to himself shaking his head. Harry relayed the conversation he had had with Cassie the night before both of them giving Harry the utmost attention. Once Harry was finished Hermione shook her head and looked down at her breakfast, Ron still had the bit of egg hanging from his mouth before Harry swiped it away.  
  
The entire Hall fell silent as the doors opened and Cassandra White entered the room her blue eyes sparkling and head held high. She walked past the Slytherin table, many of the students muttering 'freak,' or 'half breed' under their breaths. The Hufflepuffs looked absolutely terrified of her and the Ravenclaws tried to look as if they didn't care but Harry could see the fear registering in their faces. The Gryffindors gave her demeaning looks but when she sat down next to Hermione most of them ignored her completely.  
  
"Morning all!" Cassie said loudly to the table not really caring that everyone was afraid of her. The rest of the table ignored her and only Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave her quiet greetings. "Well, what's got everyone's panties in a twist?" she asked looking around at all the tables. They seemed to be looking at her.  
  
"I think they're afraid that you're going to turn into a werewolf and eat them all," Ron commented staring at her as if she were something to be ogled at in a zoo.  
  
"Well that's utter nonsense, its not even night yet nor is it a full moon!" Cassie said with a laugh. She turned around and saw that all the Slytherins were staring at her, wide malicious grins on all of their faces. Draco Malfoy smiled at Cassie before he let out a loud hall. All the tables jumped except for Slytherin who all seemed to think it was a great joke and were laughing loudly together, many smacking their hands on Malfoy's back.  
  
Cassie laughed along with the Slytherins before she turned back around and finished her breakfast, talking to Harry and Ron about their Divination homework. Hermione was busying herself with some of her work in Arithmancy muttering about a question she was working out in her head.  
  
As breakfast ended, Cassie got up from her seat, all eyes watching her as she headed over towards the Slytherin table. Harry saw Snape watching her very carefully as well as Romulus Lupin. Malfoy was busy talking to Crabbe and Goyle to notice that Cassie was right up behind him.  
  
She gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione a thumbs up before she tossed her head back and let out an extremely loud wolf howl. Harry and Ron peeled over in laughter as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle jumped three feet in the air from fright, turning around to find Cassandra laughing as well.  
  
"You'll pay for that you dirty half breed," Malfoy spat out as he stood to face her.  
  
"I would love to see you try after all, full moon's a week away," she said her voice deadly serious before she let out a huge laugh and sauntered out of the Great Hall, a myriad of eyes following her as she left.  
  
"She can't turn into a werewolf can she?" Neville asked rather fearfully.  
  
"No, but what Malfoy doesn't know won't hurt him!" Ron said happily.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
A week later there wasn't a soul in the school who didn't know about Cassie and her relationship with Professor Lupin and his brother. The whole school talked nothing of it and some of the students even sent owls home to their parents and in response Cassie was receiving Howlers every other day screaming at her to leave the school before she bit someone. Harry didn't know how she could stand to have seven different voices every day bellowing at her to get out of the school before they sent letters to the Ministry.  
  
Even Malfoy seemed a little wary of Cassie, to Ron and Harry's great joy. He wouldn't sneer at her in potions and even though he gave her spiteful looks in the hallways, he didn't dare try to jinx or hex her.  
  
Many of the students were still a bit frightened of her so she opted to sit in the back of every classroom, alone, so none of the students would feel threatened by the abilities she knew she didn't possess.  
  
Harry had a feeling that there was another reason why Cassie didn't want to tell people about her origins. For one, Professor Lupin rarely asked Cassie to answer any questions he proposed to the class, fearing some of the students would accuse him of favoring his niece.  
  
There was one thing that didn't change about Cassandra White though. Although she was taking her potion for her conditions, they seemed to worsen no matter how many times she drank Snape's concoction.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione would descend down the dormitory staircase countless of times to find Cassie sitting in the common room either wide awake, dark circles under her eyes, or sprawled out on the couch fast asleep. Harry couldn't help but feel concerned for the girl who seemed to have gotten more emaciated as November started to fade into December.  
  
Instead of a healthy appetite Harry had seen in the beginning of the year, he found that Cassie could only pick at her food, nibbling on a bit of toast or treacle tarts during their meals in the Great Hall.  
  
"It looks like she's wasting away. Can't her father or uncle see that?" Harry explained one day to Ron and Hermione as they were walking towards their Care of Magical Creature's lesson. The sixth year students were taking care of wood fairies, feeding them strips of tree bark and taking them back to their trees at the end of the lesson. Hagrid had explained that as the days grew colder, the tiny fairies would fly towards the warmth of the castle and Hagrid's hut.  
  
"Well, ever since she's told everyone about her father being a werewolf she seems to be excluding herself from a lot of activities," Hermione remarked as they joined the rest of the sixth years in front of the small enclosure where they took care of the fairies. Harry knew that Hermione had a point. Cassie, who was usually in the center of attention in the common room after classes, would sit in the back of the room working on her homework on her own and heading to bed early. She would rarely talk to anyone unless it was Harry, Ron or Hermione and she hardly stayed in the Great Hall for meals. She was usually in there for at least five minutes before she would excuse herself and head for the common room.  
  
"How would you feel if everyone was waiting for you to turn into a monster at every second of the day? I don't blame her for pushing herself away from everyone," Ron whispered as Hagrid yelled out instructions to the class. The three of them looked over at Cassie who was standing far away from everyone, shivering under her cloak from the cold breeze that was rushing through the grounds.  
  
"Off ye' go then! Off ye' go!" Hagrid roared above the breeze which was now turning into a strong wind. The group of sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins headed into the outskirts of the Forbidden Forrest, walking up to the trees they were assigned to. Harry reached into his oak tree and gently pulled out his Oak Fairy. The tiny creature, who was the same brown as the tree's trunk clutched onto Harry's thumb for warmth, its hair, which was once green like the oak's leaves, was now a dead brown color, the sign that winter and snow was quickly approaching.  
  
Harry led it back to the enclosure and sat next to Hermione, who was feeding her Birch Fairy some bark and Ron, who's Fir Fairy was trying to take a bite out of his finger.  
  
"Bloody animal, it won't sit still," Ron growled as he tried to feed his fairy some bark. It closed its tiny mouth, dark brown arms against his chest and shook his head defiantly. Harry looked behind him and saw Cassie sitting against the enclosure fence playing with her Aspen Fairy. The fairy was tugging at Cassie's hair playfully, blowing raspberries and making rude gestures at the girl. Harry watched as Cassie's mouth, which was formed into a tight line of seriousness, spread into a genuine grin, something Harry hadn't seen in almost two weeks.  
  
"Now there's sommat we haven' seen in a while," Hagrid said directing his comment towards Cassie. Harry saw as the smile disappeared from Cassie's face and she went back to her serious frown. He could tell she was trying hard not to laugh at the fairy who was trying everything to get the girl to laugh. The three watched as Hagrid lumbered over to Cassie and kneeled down in front of her muttering something to her.  
  
"Wonder what that's all about," Ron said who had finally gotten his fairy to settle down to eat some food. Harry shrugged and he heard Cassie laugh loudly at something Hagrid had said. Hagrid got to his feet and walked back to the front of the enclosure giving Harry, Hermione and Ron a wink as he passed.  
  
After their fairies had been fed and the nests inside their trees had been cleaned out, Hagrid dismissed the class and they headed back towards the castle for lunch.  
  
"Look at this! If it isn't the little half breed," a voice sneered behind Harry. He turned around quickly, Hermione and Ron following his lead. They saw that Malfoy and his thuggish friends had surrounded Cassie, the rest of the sixth year Slytherins forming a circle around them, preventing Cassie from escaping.  
  
"Get out of the way Malfoy," Cassie said her voice low and stern.  
  
"What are you going to do about it? You can't change into a werewolf, you're harmless," Malfoy leered. Harry and Ron started towards Malfoy ready to break through the ranks of Slytherins to free the girl but Cassie looked at them and shook her head.  
  
"Leave me alone," she said and Malfoy sniggered the rest of the Slytherins following suit.  
  
"'Leave me alone,'" Malfoy mimicked before he lunged forward and pushed her forcefully.  
  
The wall of Slytherins broke her fall and they pushed her back into the middle of the circle all of them laughing maliciously. "You're such a dirty half breed, just like your father. He almost killed a student when he was a student here at Hogwarts. Did he tell you that he almost killed precious Potter and his friends three years ago? That if it wasn't for that stupid idiot Black they'd all be running around in the forest right now, just as dirty as he is," Malfoy spat out his leering smile growing wider by the minute.  
  
"You truly are your father's son Malfoy. You're both so insecure that you have to have to hurt innocent people, make them feel bad. You put yourself in the company of people who will make you feel more secure but really aren't the 'right people.' Your father joined a group that he thought was pretty secure. But where did it get your father Malfoy, your stupid, bastard of a father? He got himself a wonderful prison cell in Azkaban, and I hope he rots there. Pureblood or not, your filthy murderer of a father deserved what he got: a life sentence in hell."  
  
Harry couldn't recall when he saw Malfoy that mad. His pale face was now a dark, deep red, his face set into a mask of hatred and anger. The Slytherins were silent, waiting to see what Malfoy would do. Harry could see Crabbe and Goyle flexing their muscles angry faces set on Cassie.  
  
Hermione let out a small scream as Malfoy drew his hand back and smacked Cassie across the face, sending her to the ground. Strands of hair were flying about Malfoy's face as he looked down at the girl. "Never," he began as the group of Slytherins started to dismember, "never say that about my father again or I swear I will kill you." With that said, Malfoy spat on Cassie and walked back up to the castle, Crabbe and Goyle following close behind.  
  
Ron reached Cassie first and helped her sit up on the ground. Even though Malfoy got one punch in he had done some damage. His fist seemed to have hit the right side of her face and a large bruise was surfacing. "You should report that, you could get him expelled," Hermione said, "He could even get his prefect's badge removed." Cassie shook her head and got to her feet, wobbling a bit before regaining her balance.  
  
"I'm not going to report him," Cassie said simply as Harry handed Cassie her bag. Hermione looked at her in shock.  
  
"But why?"  
  
"Because I know he's going to be sitting at his table in the Hall and he's going to replay those words I said to him over and over again in his head. Maybe he'll get the picture that his father really is a murderous bastard," Cassie explained, "Excuse me." She added before she left them standing in the middle of the grounds. She walked with a determined air up the castle steps finally disappearing into Hogwarts.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall they saw that Cassie wasn't sitting in her usual seat. When they asked Ginny if Cassie hurried into the Hall to grab a small morsel of food she shook her head and told them she hadn't seen her at all during the lunch period.  
  
Ten minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of lunch; Harry excused himself and headed up to Gryffindor Tower to put away his Care of Magical Creatures book and to retrieve his Dark Arts text seeing as they had a lesson with Professor Lupin after lunch.  
  
After discarding his books, Harry glanced at his watch and realized he had five minutes to spare. He decided to head down to Lupin's classroom early so he could get a good seat for that day's lesson. The class was supposed to be casting spells on teddy bears that were enchanted to act lifelike during the week.  
  
As he neared the room he could hear voices in the room adjacent to it. He knew this to be Lupin's office and he couldn't help but overhearing the conversation.  
  
"I don't know why I'm not reporting this to Dumbledore right now. That was a very dishonorable thing to do and that brainless git should know better," Professor Lupin explained. There was a smack that followed this statement and Harry had a feeling that the teacher slammed his fist onto his desk to emphasize his side of the conversation.  
  
"Don't worry about it. It didn't hurt, honestly Uncle Romulus."  
  
"I'm surprised you didn't curse the brains out of him. That's what your father would have done," Lupin replied.  
  
Harry couldn't hear the first half of Cassie's reply because there was a rip and he could hear Lupin curse. "The stupid bears are ripping each other up again." He heard Lupin mutter.  
  
". . . Believe me I almost did curse the living day lights out of him but then you know what would happen."  
  
"Yes, I know." Professor Lupin replied rather somberly.  
  
"Don't report him Romulus please. And don't tell dad about it either. He'd be over here immediately to have him expelled. Either that or he'd rip him to shreds," Cassie explained.  
  
"I won't tell him Cass. The bell's about to ring go take your seat. And sit in the front this time. I think the students realize now that you're not going to bite them," Lupin said a hint of laughter in his voice.  
  
"I wouldn't be able to take a bite out of them," Cassie said before she said something Harry couldn't hear. Lupin let out a guffaw before they left his office, no doubt going into the classroom.  
  
The end of lunch bell rang promptly at one o' clock and Harry loitered outside of Lupin's classroom for a few moments before he walked into the classroom walking to the front of the room and taking a seat next to Cassie. "This is a first," Harry remarked, "I haven't seen you sit in the front of a classroom for a long time. Finally over your shyness?" he asked with a grin. Cassie rolled her eyes and pulled out her Dark Arts book.  
  
"Since when have I ever been shy?" she replied with a quick laugh. The students quickly began to file into the classroom, Ron taking a seat next to Harry and Hermione sitting down next to Cassie. Hermione grimaced when she saw the large bruise forming on her face but it looked like it didn't bother Cassandra one bit.  
  
Once all the students were situated in their seats, Professor Lupin handed each of the pupils a struggling teddy bear. "Now, you're going to separate into groups, two people per bear and I want you to practice some of the curses you read about in chapter seven of your text books. Once you're sure you have the curses down, please come up to my desk and perform five of the curses you used."  
  
The students quickly spread out throughout the room, Hermione and Cassie going into one of the corners behind Professor Lupin's desk. Ron and Harry took a ginger colored teddy bear and went into the way back of the classroom, away from any wandering ears. Harry quickly told Ron about Cassie and Lupin's conversation that he overheard. Once he was finished, Ron gave Cassie, whose back was turned to them, a shocked look.  
  
"If it were me he attacked, I would go and tell McGonagall to remove his prefect's badge. I wonder why she didn't report him!" Ron said in a loud whisper as he performed a bone breaking curse on the bear. The teddy bear's left arm hung loosely at its side and he shot Ron a menacing look. Harry shrugged his shoulders showing that he was just as confused as Ron was. He looked back at Hermione and Cassie who were now presenting their curses to Professor Lupin who looked extremely pleased at Hermione's bleeding curse, the stuffing coming out of the teddy bear's side. Cassie standing behind her uncle's chair, a wide smile set across her face making the bruise on the right side of her face disappear. Cassie then started her curses on the bear and cast a torture curse on the bear the smile disappearing from her face as she watched the stuffed teddy bear crumble on her uncle's desk, not moving.  
  
The large bruise appeared on her face again and she reached up to touch it gingerly. She grimaced slightly before she grabbed her heart. Harry watched as she turned her back from the class and reached into her pocket to grab something. He saw her tilt her head back, a vial to her lips. 'There she goes again,' Harry thought to himself. He watched as Cassie turned around quickly before she gave a short gasp of pain. Professor Lupin turned around just in time to watch his niece's eyes roll back into her head. She moaned in pain before she fell into a heap on the floor.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Sorry it was so short. Hope to update later tonight or tomorrow. But thank you again for all of your reviews! You guys are the best!  
  
~Aislin 


	14. Snow Days

Oh my god, you can't imagine the shock I had when I found out that I had close to fifty reviews! Thank you all so, so, so much for reading my story and giving it a chance. I'm also very sorry that this update has taken me a long time to write. There are several factors that helped.  
  
I had a severe bout of writer's block for about a portion of the chapter but as I was nearing the end it became easier to write. I was on eighteen pages before the most horrible thing happened, which leads us to number. . .  
  
MY STUPID COMPUTER LOST CHAPTER FOURTEEN! I have to start from scratch and it's going to be extremely difficult to accomplish. This was going to be my longest chapter to date but my damn computer is spazzing out and won't load it for me. Again, I'm sorry for the wait. I'm going to kill my computer after I finish this story.  
  
Other than that there are quite a few people I have to thank:  
  
radarPLO: Thank you so much for your review and I am so glad you are enjoying the story so far.  
  
Lily Skylo: Thank you so much for reviewing to like every single chapter! You have no idea how happy that makes me! Thank you so much for your kind words and wonderful reviews on the characters!  
  
Coolerimmortal: Thank you so much for your review I truly appreciate the time you took out of your day to read my story!  
  
Bookworm127: Thank you for thinking my story is great!  
  
J-chan: Thanks for thinking my story is great. I know what a Mary Sue is and I thank you for your criticism (how else am I going to get better at writing?)  
  
BigFan1: Thanks for the review and I'm glad you think my story is good!  
  
Snivellus: What can I say, I'm so happy you reviewed! I missed hearing from you and thank you for reading 'Whispers' as well. I'm thinking that after I finish Black Diamond I'll make 'Whispers' a novel length story! What do you think? Anyway, I'm so glad you enjoy Cassie. I was thinking that she was toeing the line as a Mary Sue but I retract my statement in lieu of upcoming chapters. And thank you for giving me suggestions! I think that giving suggestions to other authors is the best way to improve your writing. I will defiantly reconsider the catalogues. Oh and before I forget, Hermione's teddy bear had a proper burial so there is no need to worry.  
  
If I forgot to thank anyone its just that my computer is slow in showing the reviews on ff.net and it hasn't shown up yet but it doesn't mean that I don't disregard you! You guys are the best readers ever and thank you so, so, so, so much for reading and reviewing!  
  
Chapter Fifteen coming soon!  
  
14. Snow Days  
  
Professor Lupin's face went as white as a sheet as he jumped from his seat and ran to the side of his comatose niece. Lupin knelt down in front of her, grabbing her wrist and searching for a pulse. He quickly dismissed the class before he let out a low curse and beckoned Harry and Ron forward his hands trembling as he picked up his niece.  
  
"Could you please go and send an owl to my brother and inform him what happened?" Lupin asked as he shot a worried look at the unconscious girl in his arms. Cassandra had gone deathly pale and she lay limply in her uncle's arm almost as if she were dead.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded in agreement before Professor Lupin hurried out of the classroom, leaving the three behind in a wake of confusion. Without hesitation, the three headed up to the owlrey to relay a message to Cassie's father.  
  
Once they reached the rotund building, Harry immediately called his owl, Hedwig down from the rafters. She hooted happily at the sight of him, glad he had finally given her something to do. Harry hurriedly wrote out a letter to Remus Lupin, explaining the situation of his daughter and that he should come straight away. He signed the letter and then tied it to Hedwig's leg. "Hurry as fast you can and get this letter to Remus Lupin. It's extremely important, Hedwig," Harry begged. Hedwig gave him a reassuring hoot before she took off and hurried out one of the windows to deliver her message.  
  
"What are we going to do now?" Hermione asked as they departed from the owlrey.  
  
"We should at least tell Professor Lupin that we delivered his message," Ron suggested as he immediately started off towards the infirmary, Harry and Hermione right behind him.  
  
When they arrived at the infirmary they saw Professor Lupin sitting on a vacant bed, looking towards the back of the room where a bed was surrounded by curtains. Harry could hear Madame Pomfrey's busy voice behind the curtains talking to a patient behind the curtains.  
  
"We sent the message, Professor," Harry announced as they went to stand by the worried man. He smiled his gratitude before he looked over at the bed surrounded by the curtains and sighed loudly. "Is she going to be okay?"  
  
"I believe so. But she'll be in the hospital wing for about a week. Madame Pomfrey wants her under close watch, what with Cassie going under cardiac arrest and all."  
  
Hermione stared at Lupin as if he were insane. "She went under cardiac arrest?" She asked as she looked at him sternly. The professor nodded offering a grim smile before Madame Pomfrey walked over a satisfied smile on her face.  
  
"She's expected to make a full recovery. She's to stay here for a week so I can monitor her health and to make sure she doesn't do it again," she explained directing the last part of her sentence to Professor Lupin.  
  
"Thank you Poppy. Can we see her?"  
  
"You can of course, professor. After all, you are family. As for these three," she said looking at Harry, Ron and Hermione sternly, "you can see her tomorrow. Is her father coming?" she asked looking at Professor Lupin again.  
  
"I believe so I had an owl sent to him not to long ago to tell him the news. I should be expecting a reply no later than tonight."  
  
"Wonderful. If you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to," she said before she nodded curtly to each of them. She headed over to another bed where a third year Hufflepuff lay, his feet propped up on a stand. Harry noticed that the young boy had distinctively yellow duck feet, reminders of a spell or curse gone awry.  
  
"You should be heading to your Transfiguration class, I don't want you to be late," Professor Lupin said as he saw them to the infirmary doors. "Thank you for sending that letter for me and I'll tell Cassie you'll be along later to speak to her."  
  
They hurried out of the hospital wing and jogged up the stairs, hoping they weren't late for their classes with Professor McGonagall. "I can't believe she went under cardiac arrest," Hermione muttered to herself.  
  
"Cardiac arrest?" Ron asked as they walked down a corridor.  
  
"Don't you read Ron, honestly? Cardiac arrest is like a heart attack but it's pretty obvious as to why her heart stopped," Hermione explained.  
  
"It is?" Ron asked her his voice conveying confusion.  
  
"Didn't she explain to us that she's part werewolf and that her heart pains are from her wanting to change into a werewolf?" Hermione asked her two friends as they walked up another flight of stairs and onto the second landing. They both nodded and she continued, "The part that's werewolf inside of her probably tried to make an effort to get out, trying to get her to transform. The stress of this probably caused her to go into cardiac arrest," Hermione explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"How do you know all this Hermione?" Ron asked incredulously as they entered Professor McGonagall's classroom.  
  
"Well, maybe if you picked up a book once in a while you'd know what I was talking about and understand it." Hermione said sarcastically.  
  
"So glad you three could join us," McGonagall said at the front of the classroom as they took their seats. "I see Miss Lupin isn't with you, any clue as to where she is?"  
  
"She fell ill in Professor Lupin's class. She's expected to be out of the hospital wing in a week or so," Hermione announced. Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Indeed," she said her voice curious, "well, be that as it may, Miss Lupin will still have to do her homework and so will you three." McGonagall explained before she went to the front of the classroom to begin the lesson.  
  
That day they were learning how to transfigure inanimate objects into mice. Professor McGonagall went around and handed out various things to her students. She handed Harry a rather small, grey rock and then gave Ron a ratty looking old quill.  
  
They began their spells, Hermione turning a piece of parchment into a mouse on her fourth try. After half an hour of yelling the spell at his rock, the stone finally turned into a rather small mouse. Harry reached out to touch it and he realized that the rat was just a sculpture of one. Ron laughed at him explaining that if he kept that up, he would have his own miniature sculpture garden.  
  
"Shove off Ron, you don't seem to be doing as well as me," Harry replied. They both looked down at his quill which had been turned into a rat but its tail was still the end of the quill. The rat spun around a few seconds before it made a sickening gasping sound and keeled over on the desk, apparently dead.  
  
"Lungs, Mr. Weasly," Professor McGonagall explained as she turned the dead rat back into the quill, "You forgot to give it lungs." Ron looked around embarrassed before the professor began to lecture him on transfiguring inanimate objects into living, breathing things. "You have to want your quill to be alive. You have to picture the lungs, the heart, the mind if you want to transfiguration to go successfully." She explained before she dismissed the class assigning them a large amount of homework. As they left the classroom, heading for their Charms class, Harry couldn't help but wonder what Cassie was up to and how she was feeling.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Later that evening, during dinner, Harry got a response from Remus Lupin. Hedwig flew into the Great Hall and landed in front of Harry, dropping a note she held in her beak. He gave her some of his shepherd's pie before she hooted her thanks and left the Hall quickly. He looked up at Professor Lupin, unsure if he should open the letter here, not knowing if the professor himself wanted to read it. The man looked at Harry and nodded giving Harry permission to open up the letter.  
  
"What does it say?" Ron asked excitedly as he and Hermione leaned forward so they could hear Harry better. Harry pulled out a letter addressed top him and another envelope that was rather thick, addressed to Remus' brother. He opened up his letter and began to read aloud.  
  
Dear Harry,  
Thank you very much for sending me an owl regarding Cassie's health. Unfortunately I will not be able to make the journey out to Hogwarts due to certain reasons concerning my own health. Please tell my daughter I'll not be able to make it out to see her, but I'll certainly see her during the Christmas holidays.  
  
Hope you're well,  
Remus.  
  
"Why can't he come out to see her? She's his only daughter!" Ron explained as he grabbed the letter from Harry's hand to read it for himself.  
  
"Ron, do you ever pay attention in Astronomy? There's a full moon this week. I don't think he'd want to travel to Hogwarts as a werewolf!" Hermione exclaimed in a rather annoyed voice.  
  
"She's going to be very upset," Harry commented as he put his letter and Professor Lupin's in the pockets of his robes. "I hope she won't go into a relapse if we tell her he isn't coming."  
  
"She won't," said a voice behind them. They looked up and saw Professor Lupin standing over them a grim smile on his face. "She's awake right now and Madame Pomfrey has allowed you to come in to see her for a few minutes," the man explained before Harry handed him the letter and he smiled warmly at him. "Thank you Harry."  
  
*~*~*  
  
"I can't believe I have to stay in this hospital wing for a week! I'm perfectly fine I could play a game of Quidditch all by myself if I had to!" Cassie exclaimed loudly. The third year with the webbed feet snorted loudly in his sleep before he turned over and began to snore again.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the hospital wing shortly after dinner to inform Cassie that her father couldn't make the trip out to Hogwarts to see if she was okay. Hermione told her this news rather quietly as if to soften the outcome from Cassie.  
  
"Gee, what a surprise. He's always too busy to come and see me. It's not like I'm his only daughter!" Cassie yelled out as she looked out the window, probably hoping her father heard her words. Madame Pomfrey hurried over to her bed, handing her a potion.  
  
"Drink up dear, this will give you a dreamless sleep, you'll need it."  
  
"Do I have to take it?" Cassie asked eyeing the potion suspiciously.  
  
"Yes you have to take it! I'm not some bloody muggle school nurse, I'm a trained mediwitch, and I know what I'm talking about. Now drink up," Madame Pomfrey said in her usual stern voice.  
  
The Hogwarts nurse then hurried Harry, Ron, and Hermione to the exit as Cassie started to drink from the glass, falling asleep immediately. "You can come and see her tomorrow; off to bed with the three of you, off you go!"  
  
"I'm surprised she kicked you out mate," Ron said, a mischievous smile on his face, "After all, you've been in that ruddy hospital wing more than Neville, and that's saying something." Hermione rolled her eyes as they hurried back to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Harry opened his eyes and found himself in the large parlor in the Riddle House. He saw that the fire in the inglenook was blazing casting off long eerie shadows that flickered along with the firelight. He could just make out the hoods of the Death Eaters amidst the armchairs but the chairs remained unoccupied. Looking a bit ahead, Harry could see a large circle of Death Eaters just to the left of the fireplace, all of them surrounding three figures.  
  
Curious, Harry walked up to the circle and found a vacant spot next to two large and menacing looking Death Eaters. He couldn't identify them because they were in full Death Eater uniform, the masks protecting their faces from any prying eyes. Harry looked into the circle to see two young men cowering in front of a tall, dark figure, his face hidden in the shadows and he was laughing in a vicious manner.  
  
"Who's ready?" the figure asked and Harry knew at once it was Lord Voldemort, his cold, high pitched voice sending shivers up his spine. Harry saw one of the men, a blonde haired blue eyed man, not a day older than eighteen, stand up bravely, his friend, a short and pudgy young man with brown hair and green cowering in fear on the ground. "Ah, Quentin Jones, are you ready to be initiated?" Lord Voldemort asked in a high pitched whisper. The man called Quentin Jones nodded firmly before Voldemort pulled back the sleeve of his robe on the left arm, positioning his wand on the man's forearm. "Say it," Voldemort growled before he began to whisper an incantation a green glow omitting from his wand.  
  
"I, Quentin Jones, swear to uphold the duties of a servant to Lord Voldemort. I, Quentin Jones, swear to show the utmost amount of loyalty to his lordship. I, Quentin Jones, swear that my faith in my lord will never waver. I, Quentin Jones, swear to follow his command and to succumb to his every wish. And I, Quentin Jones, swear that I will never waver from my lord's guiding hand and I will stop at nothing to fulfill his every desire. This is my solemn oath and vow," Quentin Jones murmured as he winced in pain. Once his pledge had been completed, Voldemort dropped his hand and Harry saw the Dark Mark, glowing in a faint green color on his left forearm.  
  
"Did you do as I instructed?" Voldemort asked the newly appointed Death Eater, a sneer in his voice.  
  
"Yes my lord," Jones said quietly before he set off into another room. Harry could hear the young man shuffling something about in the adjoining room and knew he was going to bring something in. Harry saw Jones reenter the room, dragging along with him, three large sacks. A foreboding feeling in Harry's stomach gave him a feeling as to what Quentin Jones was bringing in to show his master.  
  
Voldemort walked up to the three sacks and threw off the cloth, revealing three dead people. Moving closer, Harry saw an older man with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as Quentin Jones except a small trickle of blood was coming from his mouth. It looked as if the family had been killed recently. Harry assumed that the man was his father and the woman, close to the dead man in age was Quentin's mother. Harry let his eyes fall onto the third body and he shook his head in sadness. There was a little girl, probably no older than six years old with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as her brother but her face was deathly pale and the expression on her face seemed to ask 'How could you?'  
  
Harry opened his mouth in shock as Voldemort walked up to the three lifeless people, kicking them all extremely hard. Harry closed his eyes as Voldemort laughed viciously as he kicked the dead girl, Quentin Jones laughing along with him.  
  
"I'm very pleased Jones. Very pleased. You have destroyed your past life and have moved on to your next life. Welcome." Quentin smiled before he joined the ranks of his fellow minions.  
  
Voldemort walked up to the other man, who was quivering in fear on the floor, his hands covering his head. "Now Paul, surely you don't want to back out of this wonderful offer?" Lord Voldemort asked as he stood over Paul, the young man shaking in fear. "Get up," Voldemort demanded. Paul rose to his feet and faced the Dark Lord finally putting a brave look on his face.  
  
Voldemort put the Dark Mark on Paul Strong as he announced his loyalty to the Dark Lord. Once the short ceremony was complete, Voldemort sent Strong into the other room, no doubt bringing his dead family. Strong returned dragging along five bodies into the room with him. Harry saw the malicious grin on Voldemort's face when he saw that one of the bags was wriggling. Paul Strong had brought someone from his family, alive.  
  
The Dark Lord first inspected all the comatose people first, kicking them in the stomach as he went, making sure the new Death Eater had done his job. He then turned on the moving bag and Harry could hear a tiny voice crying inside, a child's voice. Paul Strong pulled back the cloth covering the trembling body and Harry saw a little boy, around the age of five staring at his brother with tears in his eyes.  
  
"Pauly? Pauly what are you doing?" the little boy asked as Strong stood in front of him with his wand pointing at the little boy's heart.  
  
"You know what to do," Lord Voldemort sneered before he stepped back to give Strong room. Harry could see the hesitation in his eyes as he pulled his wand back, ready to say an incantation.  
  
"Pauly, Pauly please don't Pauly, I love you Pauly," the little boy pleaded in a whisper that was so innocent, so pure, Harry could feel the bile rising in his throat.  
  
"Crucio," Strong said in a whisper. Harry watched in terror as the little boy fell to the ground, screaming loudly in pain and clutching his head.  
  
"PAULY! PAULY PLEASE!" the little boy managed to gasp out as he withered in pain. Harry could hear Voldemort laughing and he wanted to kill him. He wanted to kill him so badly that he began to see red.  
  
"Finish it," Voldemort said coldly and Pauly looked back at his brother who was panting and crying loudly.  
  
'I'm sorry Johnny.' Harry saw Strong mouth these words to his little brother before he thrust his wand hand forward, "Avada Kedavra!" he bellowed. Harry saw the flash of green light and he heard the rushing sound around him, almost as if death had come on wings to carry the little boy up. He heard little Johnny Strong yell out before he fell to the ground, not moving. Johnny Strong was dead.  
  
"The meeting will take place, now," Voldemort explained, leaving the dead bodies in their heap, not caring. The Death Eaters followed him and sat down in their armchairs, Paul Strong and Quentin Jones sitting in the oldest of the group. "Has anyone found my Diamond yet?"  
  
Harry could tell he was extremely upset because of the dead silence that followed. He saw the Dark Lord's lower jaw tremble before he looked around at his Death Eaters, "Anyone? Anyone know where it is?" he demanded. Harry saw Paul Strong stand up, his bottom legs trembling. "You?" Voldemort asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "You know where the Black Diamond is?"  
  
"Yes my lord," Paul Strong said quietly looking down at his feet.  
  
"Where?" Lord Voldemort asked. Harry could see the hunger in his eyes as he leaned forward in anticipation.  
  
"I've heard reports in Knockturn Alley. Some lesser dark wizards were talking about a magical diamond with extraordinary powers in a wizarding family's house. Just outside of London. I went to inspect it myself and asked some of the locals. They told me that the family has an enchanted jewel that they keep in their house, under a loose floorboard in their foyer. They claim this diamond is to ward off intruders and to stop curses and death," Strong explained, Harry could hear the anxiety in his voice as he shifted from foot to foot waiting for his master's approval.  
  
"I think I've underestimated you Strong. Good work. I believe if this is the diamond we're looking for, you will be rewarded beyond even your wildest imagination. But if you're wrong, well you best start digging out an early grave. . ."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Harry woke with a start, looking around the room. He expected to see Lord Voldemort's face staring back at him, a wide grin on his face but he realized he was only in the sixth year boy's dormitory at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He let out a heavy sigh and looked out the window overlooking the grounds of Hogwarts. He saw it had snowed during the night, a fresh new blanket covering the once green, well kept grounds.  
  
Looking around, Harry saw that it must have been a short time before breakfast because the dormitory was unoccupied, all his roommates either in the common room or the Great Hall. Harry got dressed quickly and headed downstairs; hoping Ron and Hermione had waited for them.  
  
He thundered down the dormitory steps, happy to see that his friends had indeed waited for him because they were both situated on one of the couches in front of the fire. "I had another dream," he announced to the two of them. He saw Hermione give him a frightful look and Ron looked as though someone had canceled Christmas break.  
  
"What happened?" Hermione asked in a hushed whisper. Harry sat down next to his two friends and told them, in detail, about his dream. Hermione let out a small cry and put her hand up to her open mouth when Harry told her about Paul Strong killing his younger brother.  
  
"You should go to Professor Dumbledore, immediately. He needs to know that they probably know where the Black Diamond is!" Hermione explained in a rather loud voice, making two first year Gryffindors look at them in confusion.  
  
"I know, I'll go see him after the day's over," Harry explained before they walked out of the common room and towards the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just finished their breakfast, Hermione going into great detail at what Harry's dream could have meant, when Harry saw Professor Lupin heading towards the hospital wing, no doubt checking up on his niece before his day at work.  
  
"How's Cassie this morning professor?" Harry asked as he stopped the older man in the hallway.  
  
"Well, according to Madame Pomfrey, she's been trying to get out of bed all morning, thinks she's in perfect health the little imp," Lupin explained shaking his head, laughter in his eyes. "I'll tell her you'll see her after lunch?" Harry nodded and the professor smiled at him and his friends. "Have a nice day."  
  
"What class do we have today? I forgot," Ron said as Harry and Hermione started to walk off towards the dungeons.  
  
"Your favorite. Potions," Harry said with a small, grim chuckle. Ron looked as if he were going to throw up before he followed them down into the dungeons.  
  
"I want two rolls of parchment on my desk on Thursday about the side affects one receives when one brews and drinks the Polyjuice potion incorrectly," Snape announced to the class after an hour of sheer torture. Neville looked like he was going to suffer a nervous breakdown and Hermione looked positively frazzled. "Oh, and Potter," Snape said as he walked up to Harry who was still trying to clean off his lacewing remnants off the table. Harry looked up and saw the malicious gleam in his eyes, "tell Miss Lupin," he said Cassie's surname as if it were a funny joke, "that I expect four rolls of parchment from her." Harry could hear Malfoy snicker in the background as Snape dismissed the class. Harry gathered his books and headed towards the classroom door, anxious to get out of the dungeons as soon as possible, wanting to get to his History of Magic class.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"That was a particularly boring lesson don't you think?" Ron asked his two friends as they walked out of Professor Binns' classroom, sleepy expressions all over their faces. Harry nodded before letting out an enormous yawn as they headed towards the Great Hall for lunch.  
  
"Yea, what was he saying about the Vampire Act of 1432?" Harry questioned before Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"Honestly, don't you two pay attention in that class?" she asked in a huffy voice as the entered the Great Hall.  
  
"Depends," Ron said with a shrug.  
  
"Depends on what?"  
  
"I pay attention to the comic books I read in the class, not Professor Binns and his droning lectures," Ron said with a laugh before Hermione gave him a scandalized look.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"He wants me to do how many rolls of parchment?" Cassie asked Harry, her face registered with surprise. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had just finished their lunch and they were now in the infirmary, giving Cassie all the notes and homework she would have to make up.  
  
"Four rolls," Harry repeated and Cassie made a disgusted noise.  
  
"Unbelievable! I don't believe him! What a brainless idiot! As if being stuck in this bed all week isn't bad enough, but I have to sit here and do all my homework! This bites," she complained as she sat back on her bed, gazing out the window to the grounds.  
  
Ron and Hermione started to talk to her about different things, to take her mind off of her school work but Harry sat back, drawn into his own thoughts. Did all the Death Eaters have to kill their family in order to join Lord Voldemort? Did Snape have to kill his family, what about Lucius Malfoy? Crabbe and Goyle? Nott? Did all of them have to take their families' lives in order to pledge their lives to the Dark Lord? Harry then realized that Sirius' younger brother was a Death Eater, so was his cousin Bellatrix. Why didn't they kill Sirius and his parents? Maybe, a small voice said in the back of his head, maybe the Blacks already supported the Dark Side. That's what Sirius had told him that day when they were cleaning out the drawing room of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. So maybe Voldemort only had his Death Eaters kill friends and family who were on the Light Side. Harry wasn't so sure and he didn't want to confirm these beliefs.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong? You okay?" Cassie asked him in a worried voice. Harry then realized that Cassie, Ron, and Hermione were staring at him with confused and worried faces.  
  
"Just thinking about the dream I had last night," Harry explained.  
  
"You had another dream?" Cassie asked fearfully, "not about the Black Diamond again?"  
  
"Yes. But this time, Voldemort initiated two new Death Eaters," Harry began.  
  
"Yea, but I've never heard of their names before," Ron explained, "Quentin Jones and Paul Strong. They weren't Hogwarts students were they?"  
  
The three didn't realize that Cassandra went extremely silent as soon as Ron said their names. She shook her head and muttered something under her breath. "What was that Cassie?" Hermione asked looking at the girl in concern.  
  
"Quentin Jones, I can't believe it," she whispered to herself shaking her head again.  
  
"Don't tell me you know him!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"I did know him at school. He went to WillowBoil; Quentin was three years ahead of me. You could sort of call him my mischief mentor. We'd run around the school at night and play pranks all the time. I can't believe he would do something like that though, are you sure it was him?" Cassie asked.  
  
"Blonde hair, blue eyes, slightly pointed face," Harry began but Cassie held up her hand and turned away, a shocked look on her face.  
  
"That's him. I can't believe he would do something like this! He had better hope he never meets me again or I'll set him in his place."  
  
"You're not in a state to do anything right now Miss Lupin, except sleep," Madame Pomfrey exclaimed as she came up to Cassie's bed, holding another glass of Dreamless Sleep Potion.  
  
"I'll come down everyday after dinner to help you with your homework alright?" Hermione asked as Cassie took the glass from the nurse. Cassie nodded and smiled her thanks.  
  
"Off you three go, hurry up! You'll miss your next class!"  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Dinner that night was extremely uneventful. The only thing worth remembering on Harry's part was approaching the dais where the teachers sat and ate to speak to Professor Dumbledore, requesting a word with him after dinner. Dumbledore nodded knowingly before he told Harry the password ('Ice Mice.') and asked Harry to return to his seat.  
  
Once dinner was over, Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione (who was going to the infirmary to go over homework with Cassie) and walked up to the gargoyle that sat in the niche in the wall, the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He said the password, and the gargoyle jumped aside, revealing a flight of steps that moved like an escalator up into another chamber.  
  
Harry stepped off the stairs and knocked on the door, it opened by itself and Harry walked into the Headmaster's office. Looking around he could see hundreds of pictures of the Headmasters and Headmistresses of the past, some of them looking at him and pointing excitedly, others dozing in their portraits. There was an extremely fat man in one corner who was snoring like a steam engine. Trying to ignore this, Harry walked up to the second landing where Dumbledore's desk was. He could see the large bookcases behind it and saw the Sorting Hat placed on the very top of one of the shelves. He saw a glass case holding the sword of Godric Gryffindor, polished and buffed to reveal a reflection. Harry saw the perch behind Dumbledore's chair and saw Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes staring back at him.  
  
"Good evening Harry," a wise old voice said. Harry turned to the sound of the voice and saw Professor Dumbledore enter through his private chambers, wearing the same purple robes he wore to dinner. Without another word, Dumbledore sat down in his chair, leaned forward and clasped his hands together, looking at Harry intently.  
  
"Hello, sir," Harry said as he approached the Headmaster's desk.  
  
"Was there something you'd like to talk about?"  
  
"Yes sir, there is," Harry began. Soon he was telling the Professor all about his dreams this year about Lord Voldemort's meetings in the Riddle House and his quest to find the Black Diamond. Harry finished his story and stood there in silence. He thought about the last time he had stepped foot into this office. How emotionally distraught and physically drained he was. The last time he was in this room, he was destroying some of Dumbledore's possessions, upset at the fact that an hour earlier, he watched his godfather die. . .  
  
"Harry, I want you to listen to me," Dumbledore began, his voice serious, "I don't want your thoughts to dwell on Voldemort. You've been through so much, I want you to act as normal as possible. Continue to work on your Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape and don't worry about the Black Diamond, leave it to the Order. I assure you that it is in very, very safe hands," Dumbledore explained giving Harry a stern look. Harry nodded in comprehension before the Headmaster looked at papers on his desk. Harry had a feeling Dumbledore had dismissed him and he walked towards the door, some of the portraits whispering goodbyes.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The week past quickly, and Cassandra's last day in the hospital wing approached. Hermione, true to her word, had visited Cassie every day, helping her with her school and homework. This left Harry and Ron to spend their nights in the common rooms by themselves, asking each other rather stupid questions that would only be amusing to a sixteen year old boy. The two were currently having a discussion on who they would snog an inch from their life. Harry laughed incessantly when Ron blushingly admitted he would snog Violet O'Hara, a famous witch actress.  
  
Harry and Ron had just erupted into peels of laughter when Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil entered the Gryffindor common room, looking at the two of them as if they had gone completely mental. Harry could hear them muttering something about 'immature teenaged boys' as they headed up to the girls' dormitory. The conversation soon turned to girls they wouldn't snog and the two of them had a rather impressive list going on.  
  
"I would never snog any of the Spice Girls, even if they were the only women on earth!" Ron proclaimed his cheeks a bright red from laughing so hard.  
  
"Oh come off it Ron! You know you like Baby Spice!" Harry said with a loud laugh as Ron blushed, confirming that Harry had been right. Harry leaned back in his chair and laughed once more. It felt so good to act like a normal teenager. It felt so good not to sit there and think about his dreams with Voldemort or the Black Diamond. He was so happy he didn't have to think about deaths and losing people close to him. Right now, he was happy just being Harry. Not Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Just Harry. The two boys were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down their cheeks. Ron leaned forward and slapped Harry on the back. He was now hiccupping back his tears shaking his head in disbelief.  
  
"Well if you two are done acting like ten year olds, you can join me in doing our homework," a stuffy voice said above them. Harry and Ron looked up to see Hermione standing over them, a displeased look on her face.  
  
"We were getting around to doing our work, honestly Hermione," Ron said as he straightened himself up, pulling out his Divination book. The class was working on seeing the future through the smoke of incense burners and Hermione had scoffed when they had told her about the procedures.  
  
Hermione pulled out her Arithmancy book, pouring over her lavish notes and text book writing things down in a hurried fashion. Harry dug around in his bag, searching for his Divination text book but found that it had gone missing. "Has anyone seen my Divination book?"  
  
"Didn't you predict you would lose it?" Ron asked, a smile playing on his lips, "I haven't seen it mate, sorry."  
  
"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" Hermione exclaimed looking up from her book, "I took it out of your bag to give to Cassie since she misplaced hers . . .again," Hermione explained. "I'll go down to the hospital wing to get it," Hermione said the lack of enthusiasm in her voice apparent. Harry knew Hermione would rather stay up in the common room to work on her homework.  
  
"I'll go get it. Besides, I didn't' see Cassie today," Harry exclaimed as Hermione smiled gratefully at him.  
  
"You best wrap yourself up, there's a big blizzard outside and the castle's gotten extremely cold," Hermione advised not looking up from her homework. Harry hurried upstairs into the boys' dormitory and grabbed his scarlet and gold scarf and cloak, wrapping himself up tightly. Even though it was warm in the common room, Harry knew how cold it could get in the Hogwarts corridors at night. He bade Ron and Hermione goodbye as he walked out of the Gryffindor common room, the Fat Lady talking to her friend Violet.  
  
Harry was glad he followed Hermione's advice because as soon as he ventured out of the hallway close to the Gryffindor Tower, a sharp wind blew through the castle, sending a shiver up his spine. He looked out one of the large windows on his right and saw that a large blizzard had surrounded Hogwarts Castle, the wind outside howling like mad.  
  
He finally made it to the first floor and set off to the infirmary, hoping to get his Divination book and to have a short chat with Cassie before heading back up to the common room. He neared the two enormous oak doors of the hospital wing and he saw that it was open a crack. Harry was about to push it open when two voices made him stop in mid air. He put his face up against the crack and peered inside.  
  
Harry couldn't see Madame Pomfrey anywhere. Looking to the far back of the room, he saw that the door to her office and living quarters was closed shut. The mediwitch had obviously turned in for the night. Harry let his eyes wander and he saw Cassie sitting up in her bed, a pained expression in her face. Harry noted that she was speaking to Professor Lupin, a rather serious expression on his face. Harry wished he had one of Fred and George's Extendable Ears because he could have really used one at the time. Instead, he put his head as close to the crack without being seen and tried to listen to the conversation.  
  
"I hate this pain Romulus, I wish I were dead." Cassie muttered her voice dripping with shame. Harry saw that she was looking at the sheets on her bed, tracing a wrinkle in the fabric with a finger.  
  
"Don't be foolish. You don't want to die, think of all you have to live for," Lupin explained in a rather loud and stern voice. He threw his hands up in the air as if to emphasize his point.  
  
"I have nothing to live for. I'd be dead a long time ago if this never happened," Cassie explained bitterly as she looked out the window that overlooked the grounds, now being attacked by a monstrous blizzard.  
  
"If what never happened?"  
  
Harry heard Cassie mutter something but he couldn't make out the words but he caught the end of her sentence, ". . . if I wasn't born into this stupid family!" Cassie cried out pounding her hands onto the side of the bed, her face twisting into yet another mask of anger and disconcert.  
  
"Cassie, we can't choose who our parents are supposed to be. I'm sorry she was never there for you. I'm sorry she wasn't a good mother. I know if your father knew how she treated you, you would have been living with him instead of her."  
  
"Why should he care? He never cared about me. He can't even care for me now!" He never loved me, he never will. Just like mom," Cassie spat out, her eyes were blazing with a blue fire as she looked at her uncle angrily.  
  
"Of course he cared! If he could be here now. . ." Lupin began.  
  
"But he isn't!" Cassie cried out cutting him off.  
  
"But if he could be here, I know he wouldn't leave your side. Not for a moment."  
  
"Whatever," Cassie muttered, clearly ending the conversation.  
  
"Maybe when you've stopped being so stubborn you'll come to your senses," Lupin explained as he patted her leg in reassurance. Harry heard Cassie let out a 'humph' before the professor got to his feet and started to head for the door. Fear leapt into Harry's throat. If Lupin and Cassie had found out he was listening to their conversation there was no telling what would happen to him. He turned around quickly and ran up the hall towards the upper floors. He turned a corner and then stopped himself, out of breath. He could still hear Professor Lupin giving his goodbyes to his niece before he heard the oak doors shut. Taking a deep breath, Harry turned the corner in what he hoped was a casual manner and he headed towards the infirmary again. Professor Lupin caught his line of sight and the older man smiled.  
  
"What are you doing out of your common room?"  
  
"Cassie has my Divination book professor. I need it back so I can do my homework," Harry explained as the professor smiled at him.  
  
"Make sure you don't stay in there too late, she needs her rest if Madame Pomfrey is going to let her out of the hospital wing tomorrow," Lupin advised before he walked away towards his private quarters.  
  
Harry sighed in relief before he walked off towards the hospital wing, glad that Lupin or Cassie didn't realize he had been eavesdropping.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The next morning, Harry awoke to find that the blizzard outside the castle was still raging, dumping inch after inch of snow onto the grounds creating a winter wonderland. Harry was glad that their Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures classes had been canceled due to the fact that the sixth years would have to shovel their way to the greenhouse and Hagrid's hut. Harry couldn't help but think about his Wood Fairy huddled in his tree, bundled up with a spare piece of fabric Harry had found at the bottom of his trunk.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked down to breakfast together to find that Cassie was sitting in her regular spot wolfing down her eggs and pumpkin juice. "Glad to see you're back," Ron said as he took a seat next to her, food instantly appearing on his plate.  
  
"I've been locked up in this castle for over a week and what happens my first day back? It snows. It snows so hard that all the outside classes have been canceled! I swear if I stay inside this castle one more time I'm going to scream," Cassie grumbled as she stabbed her eggs over and over again.  
  
Instead of their classes with Professor Sprout and Hagrid, the sixth years found that they would be taking Divination (or Arithmancy in Hermione's case) and Charms instead. Cassie was happy they had Divination claming she could finish her History of Magic homework while Professor Trelawney wasn't looking.  
  
The rest of the day went smoothly for Harry. Not once did he let his thoughts wander to Lord Voldemort or the Black Diamond. He was a bit upset that he would be having his Occlumency lesson with Snape in two days' time, but he knew he had to master the practice or he would never be able to escape Voldemort.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The next day, the blizzard stopped and Harry found himself looking out at grounds the next morning. The Hogwarts' grounds were covered in a blanket of snow. Harry could see that the lake was solid ice and the trees in the Forbidden Forest were dusted with snow.  
  
They had their morning classes and everything went extremely well. Harry saw that Cassie was starting to fall asleep in Professor Binns' class, her head was propped up by her arm and she was looking outside with a dazed expression on her face. Harry was also glad they survived through another class of Potions, Snape demanding that Cassie turn in her homework immediately.  
  
"The lacewings need to sit for twenty one days not twenty two. I think I'll give this, oh half credit," Snape said with a sneer as Cassie looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. Harry could hear Malfoy and his friends sniggering behind him and he resisted the urge to turn around and offer them a rude gesture.  
  
After the disaster in potions, the Gryffindors hurried to the Great Hall for lunch. Harry noted that Cassie was picking at her food again, gazing outside the windows longingly. Finally, after twenty minutes, Cassie let out an exasperated cry and she started to pick up her food and throw them in her robes.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ron asked her as she threw a ham sandwich into her bag.  
  
"I can't stand it anymore! If I spend one more second in this castle I'm going to lose it. I haven't been outside in almost ten days and if I don't get outside I am going to go insane!" Cassie replied frantically before she grabbed her bag and hurried out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Should we follow her?" Ron asked with a shrug. Harry nodded and together, he, Ron, and Hermione all gathered their things and walked outside into the cold, December afternoon looking around for Cassie. She had vanished.  
  
"Where'd she go?" Hermione asked looking around wildly trying to find a trace of the girl.  
  
Harry was about to respond when a large snowball hit Ron in the back of the head. He stumbled forward before he whirled around and looked about him stupidly trying to find his attacker. Harry could hear Cassie laughing in hysterics behind Ron, another snowball clutched firmly in her hands.  
  
"That was not cool. I'm going to kill you," Ron exclaimed before he picked up a patch of snow and mashed it together to form a ball. He drew his arm back to throw it at the girl but she was too quick and before Ron had time to react, Cassie had thrown another snowball and it his him right in the face. Hermione and Harry burst into laughter at the expression on Ron's face as he threw off the remaining bits of snow on his face.  
  
"Now it's on," he declared before he picked up a snowball and threw it at Hermione. She screamed in protest and threw up her arms to defend herself, the ball of snow making contact with her crossed arms. Cassie hurried forward and grabbed Hermione's wrist the two of them running away from Ron and Harry, the two of them laughing loudly as they went.  
  
Harry and Ron picked up patches of snow and made their snowballs before they started after their two friends holding their snow creations above their heads as they went.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Four extremely cold and soggy teenagers staggered back into the castle with large grins on their faces. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cassie's snowball fight had continued for the rest of lunch. Harry and Ron walked into the castle first, throwing their fists up into the air, dancing around like a bunch of raving lunatics, throwing the fact that the two of them had come out victorious in the snowball war.  
  
Hermione glanced at her watch quickly and let out a small squeak of fear. "We're going to miss Transfiguration!" she exclaimed before she sped off towards Professor McGonagall's classroom at a sprint the other three following behind her, leaving large puddles of melted snow behind them. 'Filch is going to kill us,' Harry thought to himself as they ran up the stairs all of them breathing hard.  
  
The ran into the classroom just as the late bell sounded throughout the castle, all of them extremely wet and flustered as they took their seats at the front of the classroom. Harry looked up and saw that Professor McGonagall was looking at them with a displeased look on her face.  
  
"I'm so glad you four decided to join us," McGonagall said as she shook her head in disappointment at her four Gryffindor students before she looked up to address the rest of the class. "Would you please turn in your homework?" she requested as she walked to the front of the classroom, watching her students pull out their homework.  
  
Harry pulled out his homework and looked over at Cassie who was frantically dumping out her bag and shifting through all the papers and books that were strewed about her desk.  
  
"Oh no, I can't believe it," he heard her mutter under her breath as she opened her Transfiguration book and fanned through all the pages.  
  
"Is there a problem Miss Lupin?" McGonagall asked as she walked up to the sixteen year old witch.  
  
"I seemed to have misplaced my homework professor," Cassie said with an apologetic grin. Harry knew that Transfiguration was Cassie's worst subject. No matter how many times she tried to work with Hermione on the spells and incantations she still couldn't get the workings of Transfiguration down pat.  
  
"Misplaced or forgot, Miss Lupin?" McGonagall asked.  
  
"I guess I forgot. Sorry," Cassie said hanging her head before she started to clear away her desk.  
  
"Well, sorry doesn't put the homework in my hands now does it Miss Lupin?" Professor McGonagall asked in her regular stern voice. "Turn it into my by tomorrow and I may consider giving you full marks." And with that said, Professor McGonagall turned away and began the day's lesson.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Hey Harry!" Ron called out the Wednesday before winter holiday. Harry looked up from his seat in the library to see Ron come barging into the library a happy grin on his face, "McGonagall just put up a note saying the next Hogsmeade trip is the Saturday before Christmas Holiday! We can get all our shopping done before we go off to the Black House!"  
  
Harry looked up at Ron excitedly. He was happy they would get a Hogsmeade visit right before the holidays. He didn't know when he was going to be able to go off to purchase presents for his friends. His Christmas list had expanded since last year. Not only had he included Ron and Hermione since his first year at Hogwarts but there was also Hagrid, the Lupin brothers, Tonks, the Weasly family and of course, Cassie.  
  
Harry hadn't asked if she was spending her winter holiday at the Hogwarts Castle or with her father and uncle. She still seemed a bit touchy at the subject of her father. She was still rather mad at him for not showing up when she was in the hospital wing for a week and Harry didn't know if she was going to forgive him at all.  
  
Of course, Harry, Ron and Hermione were spending their Christmas holiday at the Black House, seeing as all of their family members and friends were situated at the Order H.Q. Harry was quite saddened by the fact that he would be spending his Christmas holiday in his dead godfather's house. He remembered his last Christmas with Sirius and he could feel the lump rising in his throat at the thought of it.  
  
"Aren't you excited Harry?"  
  
"Yes, very excited," Harry answered before he started to talk to Ron about Christmas shopping.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The last day of the fall term had arrived and Harry was busily packing his trunk for the train ride back to Platform Nine and Three Quarters when Cassie and Hermione ran into the boys' dormitory. Neville, Seamus, and Dean had already gone down to the front of the castle with their things, all of them going home for the holidays. Harry and Ron were trying to stuff their trunks filled with the gifts they had bought for their friends and families, Cassie doing a sort of excited dance, hopping from one foot to the other.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked as Harry sat down on his trunk and tried to close the clasps on the side of his trunk shut.  
  
"Guess what!"  
  
"What?" Ron asked as he closed his trunk with ease.  
  
"I'm coming with you guys to the Black House! My father and uncle are spending Christmas there!" Cassie exclaimed happily as she whirled around in a circle an excited laugh escaping her mouth.  
  
*~*~*  
  
I'm sorry it took so long to write this! But if you read the reasons at the beginning of the post you'll understand why! I hope to update more frequently now that I'm done with summer school!  
  
~Aislin  
  
P.S. REVIEW! 


	15. Christmas Cheer

15. Christmas Cheer  
  
Harry couldn't help but be happy at the fact that Cassie was spending the winter holidays with them. He had a feeling that being inside the stuffy old Black House, filled to the brim with memories would be brightened by the girl's presence.  
  
They lugged their trunks through the castle and to the front of the grounds loading them into the back of a horse drawn sleigh. The four of them squished together in the sleigh, the pure white horse taking off through the snow, sending powder up behind them. They were dropped off at Hogsmeade Station, putting all their belongings on trolleys before they went to the luggage compartments to store their trunks and owl cages.  
  
The four of them met up with Ginny inside one of the compartments and they sat there and talked about past Christmas holidays while waiting for the train to depart from Hogwarts. Harry remembered that his Christmases before Hogwarts were stories he would have liked to forget. Harry sat there and listened to Ron and Hermione talk about wonderful Christmases filled with Christmas cheer and family. Harry never remembered any Christmases like that and he looked over at Cassie and noticed she didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation either.  
  
Finally, the train started to roll out of the station, the scenery soon rushing by them like a wave of pure white water. Harry smiled as he leaned back in his seat. He was going to have a good Christmas, even if it meant spending time in Sirius' old house.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
When they arrived at King's Cross Station, Harry saw that not only Mrs. Weasly came to pick them up, but Mad Eye Moody, Tonks, and Remus Lupin. The children unloaded their luggage, putting them on three separate trolleys to be taken to two large cars that would take them to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.  
  
Mrs. Weasly hugged all of the students and shook Cassie's hand warmly when Remus introduced them. "I've heard so much about you from your father!" Mrs. Weasly said in a pleased voice before she ordered the four of them to follow her out to the cars.  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't make it out to Hogwarts, Cassie. . ." Remus Lupin began as he went to hug his daughter. Cassie evaded his onslaught of affection by pushing her trolley rather violently towards the exit.  
  
"You're not sorry," Cassie grumbled, leaving her father standing in the middle of the platform.  
  
"That was rude," Hermione commented to Harry before Cassie caught up with them. They successful loaded everything into the cars and they were ready to head off to Order Headquarters. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cassie, and Ginny were all situated comfortably in the back seat of one of the cars, Remus Lupin, Mrs. Weasly and Tonks were situated up front, the young female Auror behind the wheel.  
  
"I hope she knows how to drive a car," Hermione whispered to everyone in the backseat.  
  
"Everybody buckled up?" Tonks asked looking behind her in the backseat. "I only learned how to drive this morning!" she exulted before she threw the car in reverse and stepped on the gas. Everyone went flying back, Mrs. Weasly screaming at her to put her foot on the breaks. "Oh! Oh Molly! Which one was the break? I forgot!" Tonks exclaimed in a panic voice as she started to slam her foot on the floor of the car. Hermione, who was sitting next to Harry, had grabbed his arm and squeezed it tightly as they came to a sudden, screeching halt. "Sorry about that," Tonks said as she gave a feeble laugh before putting the car into drive.  
  
Three broken mail boxes and a very red faced Mrs. Weasly later, the group found themselves getting out of their cars and standing in front of the empty lot. Harry thought of the address and he saw the door come out of the ground, followed by the rest of the house. Grabbing his trunk, he followed the others inside the house of Sirius Black.  
  
"We're home everybody!" Tonks yelled for the whole house to hear.  
  
"FILTHY BLOOD TRAITORS! MUDBLOODS AND IMPURE WIZARDS ALIKE! RUINING MY HOUSE! KREACHER! KREACHER!" Mrs. Black screamed from her position on the wall. Tonks moaned an apology before she tried to close the drapes that kept the portrait of Mrs. Black quiet.  
  
Everyone was standing in front of the foyer except of Cassie. She was walking into the front parlor where Mrs. Black was situated. She peered into the sitting room, and Harry saw her eyes stop on the portrait of Sirius' mother.  
  
"FILTHY TRATIORS! INSULT TO THIS HOUSE! GET OUT! GET-" Mrs. Black was about to continue with her rants but her screams were cut short and she fell into a deadly silence. Harry walked into the parlor and saw that Cassandra had stepped into the parlor, her eyes dead set on the portrait of Mrs. Black. Harry could see for the first time that words failed Mrs. Black. "W-What are you doing here?" Harry heard the portrait stammer. He gave Hermione and Ron confused looks as Mrs. Black store flabbergasted at the sight of Cassie.  
  
"I'm here for Christmas," Cassie replied as she inspected an overstuffed armchair that looked extremely uncomfortable.  
  
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE! YOU BRING GREAT. . ." Mrs. Black was about to continue her sentence but that was until Mad Eye Moody came running into the house his magical eye swiveling all over the place.  
  
"SHUT HER UP!" Moody yelled as he grabbed one of the curtains, Tonks the other and they tried to envelope the portrait in the draperies. Mrs. Black was putting up a tremendous fight and she was still bellowing at Cassie before Moody and Tonks were able to fully cover up the yelling portrait.  
  
"I'll put the trunks in your rooms; all of you best hurry into the kitchen. Ron, you'll show Cassie where it is won't you?" Mrs. Weasly whispered before she whispered a spell to make the trunks lighter, all five of them traveling up the stair case after Mrs. Weasly.  
  
"What was that all about?" Ron asked his friends as they sat down at the large table in the kitchen. Harry could see that it looked a lot homier than it had before. It had looked like Snape's dungeon classroom but he realized that Mrs. Weasly had done some decorating and a large; shag rug lay underneath the table. Harry thought he could hear it groan as he stepped on it and he reminded himself not to tread on it so heavily the next time.  
  
"I don't know," Hermione said before she threw a sidelong glance at Cassie who was inspecting the kitchen with utmost interest.  
  
"She's never acted like that with anyone. What'd you bring with you Cassie that made Mrs. Black freak out like that?" Ron asked excitedly.  
  
"I didn't bring anything with me aside from my clothes and homework we're supposed to do over the holidays. That and Christmas presents," she added with a wink. Mrs. Weasly came bustling into the kitchen muttering about Mrs. Black's horrible behavior.  
  
"Would you all care for a spot of tea before I make dinner?" she asked them. The five of them nodded politely before Mrs. Weasly informed Hermione that her parents were in the upstairs library, looking through some of the old books in the house. Hermione was extremely pleased that her parents were getting along fine with the people who resided in the Black House and she hurried up to meet them.  
  
"We won't see her for the rest of the night," Ron commented as his mother handed him a tea cup, "She'll be up there all night with her parents reading about spells and curses and stuff. I say we go visit Buckbeak again," Ron suggested before his mother gave him a stern look.  
  
"You will not be setting that hippogriff loose around the house again Ronald Weasly. Unless you want to spend your entire winter holiday cleaning up after him," Mrs. Weasly scolded as she started on dinner.  
  
Pretty soon, some of the members from the Order filed into the kitchen all of them talking about how starved they were. Tonks took a seat next to Cassie and started to talk to her about Quidditch and her duel with Romulus Lupin. "Heard you put him in a right state after that battle during one of your classes. You should think about becoming an Auror," Tonks suggested before she changed her lucid red hair into an ice blue color.  
  
"I'll never be an Auror. My potions grades are abysmal. So are my Transfiguration grades now that you mention it," Cassie explained as she sipped her tea thoughtfully. Tonks nodded and gave the girl a secretive wink before she got up to help Mrs. Weasly for dinner.  
  
"Tonks, go sit down," Mrs. Weasly ordered from her position by the fireplace. Harry could smell beef stew settling in the pot and he heard his stomach give a rumble. He hadn't eaten sine the friendly witch from the train had given him some Cauldron Cakes and Wand Licorice earlier that day. Tonks didn't seem to take heed of Mrs. Weasly however and she went over to the cupboard where the cutlery and plates were stored. "I'll set the table Molly," Tonks began before a plate flew to the ground with a SMASH! "Oops, sorry Molly," Tonks said a light blush creeping on her cheeks.  
  
"Go sit down Tonks," Mrs. Weasly repeated and Harry could tell her patience with the klutzy witch was wearing thin.  
  
"We'll set the table Mrs. Weasly," Harry offered before he and Ron got up from their seats, "How many?"  
  
"Better make it for about twenty Harry," Mrs. Weasly advised before she busied herself with her cooking.  
  
After they finished setting the table, Ron and Harry agreed to take Cassie on a tour of the Black House. They showed her where she would be staying (in Hermione and Ginny's room) and they took her all over the house, explaining how much they had to clean when they first got there and how much more they had to clean after they accidentally let Buckbeak loose in the house.  
  
"I'd like to meet Buckbeak," Cassie inquired as they hurried up the stairs to the master bedroom. Ron and Harry exchanged uneasy looks. They didn't know if they should go in there, if they set Buckbeak on a rampage again Mrs. Weasly would have their heads even if it was Christmas.  
  
"Maybe tomorrow. We'll have your dad go up with you, that way if Buckbeak does escape again, mum can't put the entire blame on us," Ron explained with a final nod. Cassie nodded in agreement before she squinted her eyes and pointed to something in the distance.  
  
"What's that?" she asked before she started off at a brisk jog after the stubby figure that was hobbling towards the end of the hallway. Cassie, Ron, and Harry finally caught up with the thing and Harry realized with a sort of displeased squelch in his stomach that it was Kreacher, the Black Family's house elf.  
  
"What can I help you with?" Kreacher asked, "Stupid mudbloods, poisoning Mistress' house. Stupid, stupid, stupid blood traitors." He added under his breath.  
  
"Who are you?" Cassie asked her voice kind and reserved. Harry could feel the bit of tension in her voice as she kneeled down and looked at Kreacher with interest and disgust.  
  
"I am Kreacher, here to serve those in the Black House. . ." Kreacher began before his voice trailed off when he looked at Cassie. The house elf gave an odd sort of squeaking noise before he limped down the hall, hurrying as fast as his short, stubby legs could carry him, "Oh," Harry heard Kreacher cry out as he turned a corner, "It's back. . .it's back. He's back. . . He's back!"  
  
"What was that all about?" Cassie asked looking at Ron and Harry in confusion.  
  
"House elf is a complete nutter. Don't listen to anything he says. He should be killed and have his head mounted up on the wall like his family," Ron muttered.  
  
"That house elf's family is hanging up on the walls somewhere?" Cassie asked wonder coming over her face.  
  
"Yea, it's disgusting," Ron began.  
  
"Oh that is so neat! Where are they?" Cassie asked looking around the walls excitedly.  
  
"Yeah it's disgusting but neat," Ron stammered back before the three of them hurried down the stairs to show Cassie where the beheaded house elves were located.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Dinner was served about half an hour later. Harry followed Cassie and Ron who were in a deep discussion on how idiotic and pointless potions was into the kitchen were about seventeen people were situated.  
  
Harry saw that all of the Weasly children, with the exception of Percy, were seated around the table as well as Mr. and Mrs. Weasly. Hermione was talking to her parents about her latest term at Hogwarts and Tonks was talking to Remus and Romulus Lupin who had saved a seat for Cassie in between them. Harry noticed that Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Dedalus Diggle were talking about Auror business and the conversation was soon called to a halt just as the last bit of food was placed on the large table.  
  
Harry sat in between Hermione and Ron as he grabbed some beef stew from one of the bowls and a roll of bread as well. Harry saw that Remus was making an attempt to talk to his daughter but she seemed to have developed a one word vocabulary and only answered him with 'yeah' or 'no' she even said 'maybe' when her father asked if she was doing well in her classes.  
  
"Do I have to make Romulus keep tabs on you?" Remus Lupin asked in a joking voice as Cassie took a sip of her butterbeer. She shook her head and offered her father a smile.  
  
"No. Because if I found out that Uncle Romulus was keeping tabs on my grades, I would have to beat him up in another duel," Cassie said as she beamed up at her uncle, who became extremely interested in a scorch mark on the table.  
  
"Don't go dueling again Cassie alright? You know it's not good for your health and I don't want you to get hurt," Remus said his old and tiring face pulled into a mask of seriousness.  
  
"I won't get hurt dad. You know I won't," Cassie said a determined air in her voice as she helped herself to some more stew. Remus rolled his eyes and gave Harry a wink.  
  
"Whatever you say Cass, whatever you say."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Over the course of the next week, Harry and his friends had to provide themselves with their own entertainments. Harry couldn't wait for meals because there was no telling who would show up for some of Mrs. Weasly's cooking. Harry had met some new people who had just decided to join the Order that year.  
  
The most exciting part came after dinner when Harry and the rest of the children would be kicked out of the kitchen so the members of the Order could have nightly meetings. Harry was glad to find that Fred and George had a few Extendable Ears lying around the house and the group; all seven of them would press their Ears under the door, trying to hear what was going on in the Order.  
  
But, much to their dismay, Mrs. Weasly had put every sort of Concealing Charm and spell on the kitchen and it was almost impossible to hear what was being discussed over tea in the kitchen. The only person who wasn't extremely interested in what was going on with the Order was Cassie. While the others were all pressing the side of their faces against the door, the girl calmly thumbed her way through different books and journals that she had found in the library. It was a surprise to Harry that if someone so much as called her name and disrupted her reading, she would snap and leave the room, her nose still stuck in her tome.  
  
"Reckon she's taken a page out of Hermione's book?" Ron asked a few days before Christmas as Cassie told Fred off for bothering her, leaving the room for a more suitable reading place. Harry shrugged and went back to his Extendable Ear, trying to hear anything he could about the Order.  
  
"Well, well, well. What have we got here?" a smooth, dangerous voice said behind the group. Harry dropped his Ear which fell to the ground with a loud 'squelch' and he turned around slowly.  
  
He could see black dress shoes in his line of sight (Harry had been lying on his stomach, trying to push the Ear under the door) and when he looked up more he saw that the shoes were the same color as the long, billowing robes around the figure. Looking up more, craning his neck, Harry saw the greased back hair and hooked nose of Professor Severus Snape, his mouth twisted into a malicious grin.  
  
"Sticking our nose in other people's business again are we Mr. Potter?" Snape asked as Harry got to his feet, "Don't you remember what happened last time?"  
  
"Ah Severus you've arrived," Moody said as he opened the door from the kitchen, the rest of the children recoiling slightly guilty looks registered on their faces.  
  
"Alastor," Snape said nodding curtly at the Auror.  
  
"We were just waiting for your report," the man explained his magical eye swiveling around wildly. Harry saw Snape give Mad Eye Moody a look of disgust as the Auror popped out his eye and dried it with his robes. The older man gave a satisfied grunt before he popped the ice blue eye back into his head, the orb still moving around crazily.  
  
"I'll be there in a moment. I need to deliver something to Miss Lupin,' Snape explained looking around for the girl. Harry couldn't help but notice the way Snape said her last name, almost as if it were a joke.  
  
"There's no need to search the whole house for her. Just give the package to her father," Moody advised before he turned around and headed back into the kitchen.  
  
Snape followed and Harry walked into the entrance of the kitchen, standing at the foot of the steps that led down into the large and spacious kitchen. "Hello Severus!" Harry heard Romulus Lupin exclaim happily. Harry saw his professor get out of his seat to greet his fellow professor. Snape ignored the man's hand and threw Lupin an annoyed look before he sat down on the opposite end of the table as the Lupin brothers. Harry saw Snape's eyes widened as if he remembered something. He pulled out a large bottle of black liquid from his robes.  
  
Harry watched as Snape slid the flask down the table, the vial stopping right in front of Remus Lupin. "For your daughter Remus," Snape said with a sneer. Snape had said 'daughter' as if it were a nasty word, a lie.  
  
"That's enough Severus!" Moody barked. The potions master shot the Lupin brothers another nasty look. Harry saw a look of regret and sadness stretch across the face of his Dark Arts professor and a sour expression appeared on his twin brother's face. He heard Moody clear his throat, both his eyes landing on Harry.  
  
Realizing he was intruding the Order's meeting, Harry smiled apologetically and left the room, the door shutting softly behind him. "What was all that about?" Ron, who had been right behind Harry, asked.  
  
"I don't know. It almost seemed like Professor Lupin tried to be friendly to Snape," Harry said thoughtfully.  
  
Fred scoffed and George looked at him like he had eaten a canary cream, "That's impossible! No one could be friends with Snape!"  
  
The meeting ended shortly after Snape's arrival and Harry and Ron decided to go up to the library with Hermione so they could work on some of the homework they were assigned to over the Christmas holidays.  
  
Hermione was upstairs during Snape's appearance going over her Transfiguration homework and trying to turn books into birds. Harry and Ron entered the library to see Hermione hunched over a large book a parakeet on her shoulder.  
  
Harry and Ron told Hermione about Snape's advent and how strangely he acted around Romulus Lupin. "Well its obvious isn't it?" Hermione exclaimed as she shifted the enormous book in her lap, the parakeet taking off in alarm.  
  
"What's obvious?" Ron asked, knowing that Hermione was about to refer to a book.  
  
"I was just looking through this Hogwarts yearbook. . ."  
  
"Hold the phone," Ron exclaimed, "How come we never got Hogwarts yearbooks?"  
  
"They stopped making them in the beginning of the 80s. If you had read 'Hogwarts: A History' you would have known," Hermione exclaimed. "This yearbook is from the year 1976, when your father went to Hogwarts, Harry."  
  
This perked Harry's interest immediately and he sat in an empty chair next to Hermione looking at the old leather bound book intently. "So what's so obvious?"  
  
"Well, according to this yearbook, Snape and Romulus Lupin were best friends," Hermione explained. Harry looked down and saw that there was a page dedicated to best friends. His eyes landed on a picture of his father and Sirius Black both of them grinning insanely and waving frantically to the three youths in front of them.  
  
"What? Best friends? I thought Snape was an outcast," Ron exclaimed as he pulled the yearbook out of Hermione's grasp. She gave a squeal of protest and tried to grab the yearbook from Ron's grasp. "I don't believe it!" Ron said in disbelief as he handed the yearbook to Harry.  
  
There, in the middle of the page, was a fifteen year old version of Romulus Lupin and Severus Snape. One of Snape's arms was draped around Romulus' shoulder, their Dark Arts professor mimicking the same movement. "But Snape hates Remus, how could he be best friends with his twin brother?"  
  
"Well, Snape and Professor Lupin must have had a huge fight when they were younger; they hate each other now," Hermione explained as she started to put the yearbook back on one of the shelves.  
  
"Wait a moment," a voice said from the entrance of the library. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up to see Remus Lupin standing in the doorway, a faraway look on his face when his eyes landed on the yearbook. "I haven't seen one of those in years," the man explained as he grabbed the yearbook from Hermione. They watched as Remus' eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the pictures in front of him, "Ah yes, Romulus and Severus, they were quite the conniving team when we went to Hogwarts."  
  
"Both of them?" Ron squeaked out.  
  
"Oh yes, you see, even though Romulus and I were twins, we weren't in the same house. He got shoved off to Slytherin while I was in Gryffindor with Sirius and James. Those two became inseparable. They were the Slytherin version of James and Sirius if I do recall correctly," Remus said reminiscing his past.  
  
"What happened between the two of them? They aren't exactly best friends now," Harry pointed out, looking at the werewolf intently.  
  
"It was all because of me, of course," Remus explained giving a guilty look, "it was right after Sirius played that joke on Severus that almost cost Sirius and your father their magical careers." Harry nodded, remembering how Sirius had told Snape that he could find out where Lupin went every month. His father, James, had stopped Snape just before he went under the Whomping Willow to see Remus.  
  
"Well, Romulus thought Severus was extremely stupid for sticking his nose in other people's business. He believed that you should only be interested about the things that went on in someone's own house, not others. He and Severus got into an enormous fight about it and if I remember correctly, Severus cursed Romulus' voice right out of him and he couldn't talk for months."  
  
"They fought over something so stupid?" Hermione asked shaking her head in disbelief, "I don't believe it."  
  
"Well, after their friendship fell out, Snape became a loner. He never tried to make more friends and he would do everything by himself. It was actually quite sad to sit there and watch him be all by himself. Romulus didn't care though, he started to hang out with me and Sirius and James. He was the only Slytherin we ever liked," Lupin said with a laugh. Lupin offered them all a comforting smile, "Its best that you don't talk about this to anyone. Romulus would kill me and I'm sure you don't want Professor Snape on your case at the start of next term," Lupin explained as started towards the exit, the yearbook still clutched in his hands.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Harry awoke the next week to Ron's yells of excitement. Mumbling to himself that it was too early to be awake, Harry reluctantly sat up in his bed and grabbed his glasses from the bedside table.  
  
"What's going on?" Harry asked as he gave Ron a questioning look.  
  
"It's Christmas Harry! It's Christmas!" Ron exulted as he pulled the covers off of Harry's bed. "Let's go downstairs and open presents!"  
  
Stifling an enormous yawn, Harry nodded stupidly and got out of bed, trying to ignore Ron's hooting and hollering as he ran out of the room and hurried into the girls' room to get them out of bed. Harry made his way into the family room that was located near the back of the Black House.  
  
He entered the room and was surprised to see that just about everyone in the house was awake. Harry noticed that most of the Aurors (aside from Tonks) had left to be with their families on Christmas. Harry saw an extremely sleepy Romulus Lupin and his equally tired twin brother sitting on one of the old couches two large loads of presents in front of them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasly were sitting with the rest of their children at another couch. Somehow this couch was large enough to hold all nine members of the Weasly family. The only two that were missing were Ron, which was understandable since he was upstairs rousing the girls and. . .  
  
"Say, where's Percy?" Harry asked. The truth was, the entire two weeks he was at the Black House he had seen neither hide nor hair of Percy Weasly.  
  
"Oh, the Minister decided to invite him over for Christmas," Fred explained rolling his eyes, "But don't worry, George and I sent him a couple of self exploding Dungbombs."  
  
"Fred!" Mrs. Weasly exclaimed loudly. She shook her head in disappointment before she turned to Ginny who had just appeared from her room, Hermione and Cassie in tow.  
  
Hermione's parents were already in the room, both of them being interrogated by Mr. Weasly about muggle Christmas customs. Harry saw that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were growing uncomfortable with Mr. Weasly's questionings and Mrs. Weasly called her husband off with much scolding. Hermione made her way over to her parents and hugged each of them, wishing them both a Happy Christmas.  
  
Cassie looked exhausted and judging by the look she threw Ron as she went to sit with her father and uncle, she was upset that he had waken her so early in the morning. "Come sit over here with us Harry," Mrs. Weasly ordered and the couch magically grew another cushion so Harry could sit down.  
  
Soon the room was filled with the ripping of wrapping paper and a rather nasty off tune version of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' by some of the Christmas lights on the Christmas tree. Harry had received many presents this year. Hermione had given him a book on translating dreams and Ron had given him a gift certificate to Zonko's and Honeydukes for their next visit into Hogsmeade.  
  
He looked over at Cassie who was opening a present from her father. Harry guessed that her father had given her a stack of books and his guesses were confirmed when Cassie opened the present and was met with a stack of eight books. Harry recognized that they were all Hogwarts yearbooks dating from 1971 to 1978, Remus Lupin's seven years at Hogwarts. There was a rather small and beaten up book on top of them all and Harry saw that there wasn't a title or a name of an author on top of the book. Harry heard Remus whisper something into Cassie's ear and she smiled and nodded.  
  
"How is it that you knew I wanted exactly this?" Cassie asked suspiciously.  
  
"Can't a father know what his own daughter wants?" Lupin asked with a smile before he patted her shoulder. Harry didn't notice it, but after Lupin had said this comment, Cassie was considerably more curt and refined with her father for the rest of the day.  
  
Harry returned to his presents and found yet another Weasly sweater, some Weasly Wizard Wheezes from Fred and George, a book on the inter workings of Gringotts Wizard Bank from Bill Weasly, a handsome picture book on dragons from Charlie and a small model of a Firebolt broom from Ginny.  
  
Five hours later, most of the presents had been opened and many of Harry's friends had gone into the kitchen to get ready for Christmas dinner. Harry was cleaning up his mess when his eyes landed on a small present addressed to him. Picking it up, Harry realized that it was from Cassie. He opened the package and saw that there was a small note attached to a box. Picking up the letter, Harry opened it and read it to himself.  
  
Harry,  
  
Just wanted to say thanks for lending an ear to all my problems. Anytime you need anything feel free to ask and I'll help you out! To tell you about your present: It's kind of a hoax thingamabobber but I believe it'll bring you a little extra bit of protection. I have a feeling you'll need it.  
  
Cassie  
  
Harry opened the box and saw that there was a sort of small amulet inside. The amulet was pure crystal and Harry could see through it. He noticed there was something inside and he lifted the little amulet out of the box and held it into the light. The light hit the amulet and the room erupted into millions of different colors. Harry looked at the crystal amulet and saw a shard of something red so dark it was almost black. His head hurting from looking at all the different colors, Harry pulled the amulet out of the light and inspected it while it was clutched in his hand. The shard was indeed a dark blood red and Harry thought it looked like a fragment of a jewel. Harry shrugged and reminded himself to thank Cassie for his gift.  
  
After carting all of his presents upstairs into his room, Harry joined everyone down in the kitchen for an enormous Christmas dinner. Harry didn't realize it, but they had spent the entire day in the living room opening presents and talking about different things. Harry sat in between Ron and Hermione both of them ogling over an extremely handsome ostrich quill Hermione's parents had bought her for Christmas.  
  
Dinner was soon underway and Harry had never tasted a better Christmas turkey in his entire life. "Have some more Harry," Mrs. Weasly encouraged as she used her wand to cut a piece of meat from the enormous turkey.  
  
"I don't ever think I've seen a turkey that big," Harry muttered to Ron. And indeed the turkey was so big that Harry could hardly see Remus and his daughter over the top.  
  
"Mum put an Engorgement Charm on the turkey," Ron explained as he took a bite of mashed potatoes looking at the turkey as if it were no big deal. "You should have seen it a couple years ago when Bill and Charlie had some friends and their families over for Christmas. The turkey took up the whole parlor and that's the biggest room in the Burrow," Ron explained before he sighed sadly, "I miss it terribly."  
  
Harry nodded in understanding. True to their word, the Weasly had not stepped foot in their beloved home since August for fear of an ambush or attack from Voldemort's forces. Even Hermione's parents were forced from their straight-forward non-magical world and were compelled into the world of wizards and witches. The two muggles seemed to have been adapting well though, clapping in delight as Tonks turned her hair into a bright red and green color.  
  
"Aren't you going to try some of the mashed potatoes Cassie? I know they're your favorite," Remus Lupin asked his daughter. Harry stretched up to look over the gigantic turkey just in time to see Cassie give her father a sickly sweet smile as she reached for the potatoes. 'That's odd,' Harry thought to himself as Cassie dumped the potatoes on her plate giving her father a scornful look.  
  
Dinner continued on and soon the turkey was cleared away and everyone was leaning back in their seats; all of them completely stuffed from a stupendous dinner provided by Mrs. Weasly. Fred and George brought out butterbeer and Tonks hurried into another room to pull out brandy and other beverages for the adults.  
  
Soon everyone was in good cheer and laughter filled the room as Mr. Weasly finished telling a joke about a banshee, a manticore and a rather stubborn sorcerer. The table erupted into laughter and Ron shook his head, a monstrous grin on his face, "Dad's told that joke about a million times," Ron explained to Harry before he gave a polite laugh. Mr. Weasly grinned and took another sip of his brandy.  
  
Ron soon got into a deep conversation with Cassie who seemed to be having the worst time of all. She rarely took sips of her butterbeer and she seemed to be ignoring everyone who tried to talk to her. It was only Ron's complete stubbornness that kept Cassie interested in the conversation.  
  
"But really, Snape is. . ." Cassie started but Ron looked up and grinned.  
  
". . . A brainless git!"  
  
". . . A brainless git!" the two said at the exact same moment. Romulus gave Cassie a rather scolding look and Cassie looked at Ron as if he had said something completely vulgar. The smile disappeared from her face and she withdrew herself from all conversation for the rest of the night.  
  
Once the dishes were cleared away everyone sauntered up the stairs to their bedrooms all of them wearing tired yet happy expressions on their face. And as Harry got into his bed he couldn't help but think that it would have been one of the best Christmases he had ever had. If only Sirius had been there to enjoy it with him.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The next few days flew by rapidly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione finished the rest of their schoolwork the day before New Year's Eve and they had the rest of the day to themselves. The trio was just leaving the Black Library when Ginny hurried up to them a shocked look on her face.  
  
"Did you know it was Cassie's birthday today?" she questioned staring the three down.  
  
"Hold on," Harry said holding his hands up to stop the youngest Weasly from speaking, "her birthday's today?"  
  
Ginny nodded, "I heard her and her dad talking about it downstairs in the parlor. He asked if she wanted to go get her Apparation/Disapparation license today."  
  
"We didn't know. Wow we didn't even get her a birthday present," Ron muttered. Harry looked at Hermione who shrugged her shoulders. Apparently she didn't know that today was Cassie's seventeenth birthday either.  
  
"Not today!" they heard someone snap from downstairs. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all hurried over to the banister that overlooked the bottom story just in time to see Cassie turn away from her father and headed up the stairs. She had an angry yet determined expression on her face. She didn't notice Harry or his friends standing there and she walked right past them and hurried into the depths of the house. Harry could hear a door slam a moment later.  
  
He looked down at Remus who was shaking his head in discourage before he headed down into the kitchen. "That was a bit weird," Ron commented before he grabbed Harry and Hermione's arms and led them into Ron and Harry's room. "Go away Ginny."  
  
"Gee, thanks Ron," Ginny said rolling her eyes before she headed downstairs, probably to the kitchen.  
  
Once they were alone, Ron turned to Harry an accusing expression on his face, "You had another dream last night didn't you?"  
  
Harry looked at his best friend in shock. He didn't know how Ron could have figured out about Harry's recurring dreams. Hermione looked at Harry expectantly and he could tell that she was waiting for Harry to disregard Ron's accusations because more dreams meant more possibilities of the Black Diamond being found, or Voldemort plotting Harry's demise.  
  
But the truth was, Harry was starting to have dreams about Voldemort again. They weren't as vivid as they were at the beginning of the year but they were growing stronger. Harry already knew that the Dark Lord or his minions had not made a move on the house outside of Liverpool that supposedly had the Black Diamond and Harry was grateful for that.  
  
"Yea I did," Harry said softly. Hermione gasped and Ron nodded. "How did you know?"  
  
"It was kind of hard not to notice. You were mumbling about that stupid Diamond and death eaters and just about everything else. You. . .you were yelling about Sirius too, Harry," Ron explained.  
  
Harry felt the bottom of his stomach drop out from under him. No one was supposed to know about those dreams. He hadn't told anyone about his recurring dreams of what happened at the Department of Mysteries almost a year ago. Harry hadn't discussed with anyone about watching his godfather fall. . .Maybe it was being back in the house again, maybe it was all the memories of Sirius that were flooding back to Harry that made him start to have those dreams again. Harry didn't know.  
  
"Oh, Harry," Hermione whispered in a sympathetic voice. She had no idea, neither did Ron. They had no idea what it was like to lose someone that you considered a father figure. No idea what it was like to lose parents. They didn't understand what it was like, not having parents. What it was like not having a family to sit down with and open presents with. They could never understand. Never.  
  
"Forget it. Just forget about it okay?" Harry asked his voice rising. He saw Ron and Hermione recoil for a moment. Both of them knew his godfather's death was still a touchy subject for him. "Can we just go downstairs and not talk about all this?"  
  
Ron and Hermione nodded submissively before they all turned and headed towards the kitchen. When they got there, Mrs. Weasly was making an enormous birthday cake that was decorated with the Gryffindor colors of red and gold. Harry saw the top of the cake read, 'Happy Birthday Cassie!' in big bold letters that sparkled and moved around the cake. Harry saw that Tonks was creating large balloons that sang 'Happy Birthday' in perfect harmony. One of them exploded in her face with as shriek and Harry saw that Tonks' hair had turned white.  
  
For the next few hours Harry watched Hermione and Ron bustle around the kitchen trying to prepare things for what seemed like Cassie's birthday celebration. But Harry's mind was on other things.  
  
He kept thinking back to his dreams of watching Sirius fall through the veil, the laughter frozen on his face, a look of surprise coming over him. He was probably with his parents now, somewhere beyond that veil. His father had his wife and best friend with him now and Harry had no one to call a parent. 'I hope you're happy now dad. You took away the only person who was the closest thing I had to a father,' Harry thought bitterly as he wrapped his arms around his chest. The balloons were singing in loud voices and Ron, Fred, and George were using Silly Snakes to attack Hermione and Ginny. Mrs. Weasly was yelling at her three sons and Ginny and Hermione were cowering behind the giant balloons who had now changed their tone of singing from utterly happy, to that of utter despair. Harry couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't think, couldn't concentrate with all the racket going on in the kitchen. He had to get out.  
  
Harry left the kitchen and headed upstairs. He walked down one of the second floor corridors and he entered the drawing room trying to get a few moments of peace and quiet. He couldn't stand to be in the house anymore. Not when there were memories of last year flooding around him like a surging wave of grief. He turned around slowly, rubbing his forehead with his hand shaking his head sadly.  
  
A throat clearing made Harry look up in surprise, he looked around the room, his eyes finally landing on the large tapestry that held the family tree of the Black Family. Cassie was standing in front of the hanging looking at it with utmost interest and yet, an unmistakable trace of sadness.  
  
She let her fingers trail against the old cloth, resting on the name of Mrs. Black. Harry watched as she went down the line and pressed her finger against Sirius' younger brother's name. Harry heard her sigh loudly before she let her finger rest against the spot where Sirius' name should have been. Harry remembered that his godfather had been blasted off the Black Family tapestry because he ran away from home, turning away from the Dark Side.  
  
Harry took a step back in uncertainty when he heard Cassie cry out in sadness bowing her head, the tears falling from her face and onto her shoes. She shook her head and looked back up as her fingers traced along below Regulus' name and Harry saw that her tears became more abundant.  
  
Sure Harry had seen Cassie cry, but never like this. He had never heard such heart wrenching sobs coming from another person in his life. She let her hand drop to her side and she looked back up at the heading of the tapestry, shaking her head again, wiping away her tears with a stray hand.  
  
Harry took a step towards the girl, hoping he could comfort her, if even a little bit. He was about to tap her shoulder when he heard her take a sharp intake of breath. "Go away, Harry."  
  
"Are you alright? Is there anything I can do?" Harry asked concern edging around his voice.  
  
"Just go away," she repeated not turning around and Harry could see her shaking.  
  
"You better get back downstairs, your birthday dinner is about to start," Harry advised. When Cassie didn't budge he tried another alternative, "We could talk about it Cassie, I think I'll be able to understand," Harry explained hoping she would talk to him.  
  
Harry stepped back in shock as Cassie whirled around her face masked in an unrecognizable façade of anger. Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she hadn't slept in a few days and they were puffy, as if she had been crying a lot. "I don't think you'll be able to understand. You couldn't understand!" she said in a dangerous whisper.  
  
"Try me."  
  
"You think you know me don't you Harry? You think you've got me all figured out?" Cassie asked her voice rising as she moved her face into Harry's. "There are things about me that would make you not want to be my friend. You wouldn't want to know me at all if you knew."  
  
"Then why don't you tell me? I'm sure I'd understand!" Harry asked. Everything was too much for him at the moment. The memories of his dead godfather, his dead parents, thoughts of Voldemort creeping back into his mind, and now this, Cassie yelling at him almost telling him he knew nothing. The wall blocking his temper was slowly fading away and he could tell that if he didn't get out of that room, he would explode.  
  
"Do you have to know everything?" Cassie questioned hands positioned on her hips. "I can't tell you! Just go away and leave me alone!"  
  
"There's something going on, I know there is, why don't you just tell me? Don't you trust me?" Harry demanded the rage was boiling inside him now he wanted to hit something. He hadn't been this mad since that night in Dumbledore's office.  
  
"No I don't trust you! Just leave me alone!"  
  
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!" Harry didn't realize it but they were now in a full fledge screaming row. Cassie turned around and put her hands to her face, screaming in frustration. She turned around again, a scowl on her face, her blue eyes a fire of rage.  
  
"NO!" Cassie screamed shaking her head frantically.  
  
"You think you're so cool Cassie, don't you? The girl who shows up and takes Hogwarts by storm! You think you're God's gift to everyone, acting like you own the Quidditch pitch and everything else in that ruddy castle! But you're just a scared little girl who doesn't even know who she is! You push everyone away when they get too close don't you? You even pushed your own father away because he was starting to get under your skin, to figure out how you really work! That's what you're doing right now! You started to ignore Hermione when she started to figure out your parentage but then forgave her because she was wrong! You're pushing all three of us away now because we're starting to figure you out! Just give it up!" Harry screamed. He could hear people murmuring from the doorway and he glanced over to the door and saw that Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were looking at them; all three of them had stunned expressions plastered on their faces.  
  
Harry could tell he had struck a nerve because Cassie had recoiled before she countered and gave Harry a small push. "So you want to play that game don't you? What about you Harry Potter huh? What about you? You sit around all day and complain that nobody understands you. You think that no one cares about you. That it's only Harry Potter. You have no idea how many people care about you. How many people there are that have sacrificed themselves for you. Look at your mother! Your mother died trying to save you so did your father. But you're so caught up in yourself that you don't realize how much they loved you! I would kill to have parents like that even if they are dead! Just to have the thought that they died trying to save me. . . I wouldn't care if they weren't there for me, at least they cared! But you sit there, and you portray yourself as a hero! You sit there and let people assume that you are the real hero but you aren't! You got lucky all those times you faced off with Voldemort! Your parents are the real heroes Harry, not you. Oh but there is one more person I forgot to mention. The one person who gave his life for you because of your stupid mistake? What about Sirius, Harry?" Cassie asked with a sneer.  
  
"DON'T YOU DARE DRAG HIM INTO THIS!" Harry bellowed as he returned Cassie's push. Harry heard Hermione gasp out loud as Cassie looked at Harry with an extreme amount of rage.  
  
"Sirius died trying to save you from Voldemort and it got the better of him in the end didn't it? He went off and got himself killed because you had to play the hero! It was entirely your fault! It's because of you that my father is without his best friend and it's your own fault for playing the hero which resulted in your precious godfather's death. But he deserved what he got he deserved it. . ." Cassie said in a quiet whisper.  
  
Harry couldn't take it anymore, the rage building up inside him finally exploded like a ton of fireworks. He let out a yell before he tackled Cassie to the ground; anger and fury were the only emotions he could feel as he punched the squirming girl in the eye.  
  
Hermione was screaming in panic and Harry could feel two pairs of arms grab his, pulling him off the sixteen year old. Harry looked around and saws that Ron and Ginny were holding him back, Cassie rising to her feet. "Get off Ron!" Harry yelled fighting against the two Weaslys. "You heard what she said! You heard what she said!" Harry repeated over and over again.  
  
Harry finally settled down enough to see Cassie shaking her head in disgust as she left the room. "I never want to speak to you again!" Harry yelled out after her. A few short moments later, Ron and Ginny had let him go, Mrs. Weasly and Remus Lupin hurrying into the room.  
  
"What happened? We could hear Hermione screaming," Mrs. Weasly asked looking around the room to find the source of Hermione's panic.  
  
"It was nothing." Harry said as he tried to tidy up his hair, placing his glasses back in place.  
  
"Nothing?" Lupin asked eyeing him suspiciously and then looking out into the hallway. Harry could hear a door slam far off in the house.  
  
"Nothing," Harry repeated before he walked out of the room and headed towards the bedroom he shared with Ron, the rage finally settling down. He thought he could hear someone far away laugh in a sinister way before Harry slammed the bedroom door shut, the laughter abruptly cut off. 


	16. Tantrums and Tirades

Let me start off by saying how sorry I am that I haven't been updating regularly. School's started up and let me tell you being a junior in college like classes takes a lot of out you. I want to thank all my readers for sticking to the story and waiting patiently! You have no idea how I appreciate it and I hope to get updates up at a more regular basis. I've also been experiencing writer's block for quite some time now so I've been working on later chapters of the story. It's gonna be a doozy! ( I will give more personalized thank you's in another chapter.I just wanted to get this one up as soon as possible!  
  
16  
  
"Harry? You alright mate?" Ron asked, poking his head into the room, Hermione directly behind him. It had been over three hours since Harry and Cassie's fight and at the moment, Harry was lying on his bed staring at the wall across from him. Harry heard Ron close the door and he could hear his friends' footsteps on the hardwood floor. Harry blinked rapidly and sat up in his bed.  
  
Even though the fight was long over, Hermione still looked a bit shaken up. She still had color to regain and Harry could see that she was shaking a bit. Ron looked to be in a state of shock his face pale, freckles jumping off his face. "Where've you been?" Harry asked as Ron and Hermione took a seat next to him on the bed.  
  
"Hermione dragged me into her room to check up on Cassie. You really did a number on her Harry," Ron said, "Wonderful present you gave her, a black eye for her seventeenth birthday." Harry looked at Ron stunned, Hermione looked away.  
  
"Really?" Harry asked in disbelief. He had never hit someone before, aside from Draco Malfoy and he had to admit that the violence that erupted inside of him frightened Harry.  
  
"Oh yeah. It's now a lovely purple, a bit of green around it. It's actually quite nasty. She's not talking to anyone either. She nearly cursed Fred's ears off, she's still pretty mad," Ron explained.  
  
"Well she deserved it! You heard what she said about Sirius, you heard her say that he deserved to die!" Harry exclaimed his voice raising, the familiar bout of rage filling up his stomach.  
  
Ron looked around the room uncomfortably. Ron looked at his friend stupidly not knowing what to say. He knew that giving advice and guidance was one of the many things Hermione was good for. Ron just added the comic relief and the extra 'oomph' to go out and do something dangerous. So Ron did what he did best, "Harry you're such an idiot!"  
  
"Pardon?" Harry questioned looking at Ron with a confused look on his face.  
  
"Didn't it occur to you that maybe she really didn't mean to say that?" Hermione questioned, finally finding her voice, "The way I see it she retaliated with the remark on Sirius deserving to die because she wanted to get a reaction out of you. Do you remember back in fourth year, when Ron got mad at you because you got into the TriWizard tournament?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded and remembered when Ron had stopped speaking to him because he had found his way into the TriWizard Tournament and gotten more recognition for his achievements. "He only ignored you and said those things to you because he was jealous and being a big git."  
  
"Gee, thanks Hermione," Ron said sarcastically.  
  
"Not a problem," she replied with a smile.  
  
"Well there was that and the fact that a small part inside of me was afraid of what could happen to you. You said it yourself that Cassie was pushing us away and she succeeded when she said that remark about Sirius. Now the two of you aren't on speaking terms. She's afraid of people getting to know her for who she is that and I think she's a bit jealous of you."  
  
"Her? Jealous of me, where did you get an idea like that?"  
  
"Well when you think about it, and mind you I had to think really hard about this because this isn't something I would normally do, Cassie's sort of been ignored by her father. I mean he didn't even show up when she nearly died at the hospital wing a few weeks ago. You on the other hand, have legions of people who look up to you and want to be there for you. That's something that Cassie's never had. Oh my god," Ron said in a fearful voice.  
  
"What? What is it?" Harry asked. Ron seemed to have gone rigid and a look of pain waved over his face. "Ron are you okay?"  
  
"I . I just sounded like H-H-Hermione," Ron managed to gasp out before he shook his head. "I need to stop hanging around with her so much. Need to start to cause mischief with Fred 'n George because at the rate I'm going I'm going to start talking like Hermione all the time," Ron exclaimed making Harry laugh and Hermione scoff before she gave into laughing along with her two friends.  
  
It was near midnight when Harry was woken from his sleep. He murmured something rather thickly under his breath before a hand went over his mouth, silencing him. Harry's eyes flew open and he saw a figure standing over him. It took Harry a moment to let his eyesight become accustomed to the blackness in the room. He reached for his glasses and saw that Ron was the one who had woken him from his deep sleep.  
  
"What was that all about?" Harry asked but Ron silenced him with a finger. Harry sat there in the dark for a moment listening to the coveting silence. He was about to tell Ron off for waking him when he heard muffled voices coming from the downstairs foyer.  
  
Ron opened the bedroom door and poked his head out. He motioned for Harry to signal that the coast was clear and they walked out into the dark hallway, stopping short at the landing. They peered over the banister and saw Remus Lupin pacing the floor beneath them, muttering something fervently under his breath. They saw Tonks talking to Romulus Lupin in a hushed voice that was filled with a serious air. Something rather unusual for the happy-go-lucky Auror.  
  
Moody appeared from the kitchen with a worried looking Mrs. Weasly who was clutching her apron. Harry saw that Moody was wearing a heavy cloak. It looked as if he were going outside. Harry made a sweep of the room once more and saw that all of the Aurors, even the Lupin brothers were wearing winter cloaks, all of them looking towards the front doors expectedly.  
  
"I don't understand why would she take off like that? She knows how dangerous it is for her out there," Mrs. Weasly asked in a high pitched voice.  
  
"Shush, Molly. You don't want to wake anyone else up. We'd have quite a field day explaining why we're up in the middle of the night, wearing heavy winter cloaks," Moody said in a grouchy voice. It seemed like he had been woken up in the middle of the night as well and he looked to not be in a very good mood. Mrs. Weasly gave a whispered apology.  
  
"It must have been that fight she had with Harry. She wouldn't talk to me about it; she seemed down right mad about the whole episode. I'm quite worried she'll do something drastic you all know how her fa. . ." Remus began but he was cut off by a curt grunt by Tonks.  
  
"Well we're not finding her any quicker just standing here in the middle of the night, in this hall. Let's go out there, find her as quickly as possible so I can get back to bed," Moody replied before he headed towards the front door, the rest of the Aurors and the Lupin brothers following him.  
  
"You lot stay here in case she comes back before we do. Send an owl if she comes. She'll turn up sooner or later," Moody explained to Remus and Romulus. The twins looked like they were going to answer in protest but a serious look from Moody silenced them before they headed down to the kitchen with Molly Weasly.  
  
"She ran away?" Ron whispered once the search party had left.  
  
"I don't believe it. She couldn't have been that upset with me to run away," Harry whispered back. Guilt spread through him when he thought of Cassie walking down the streets of London shivering in the freezing winter night.  
  
"Some birthday she's having," Ron remarked, "I'm going back to bed."  
  
"We need to go look for her," Harry said as he followed Ron back to their room so he could grab his Invisibility Cloak.  
  
"Are you mad? Moody and the others'll find her," Ron explained as he yawned loudly and sat down on his bed. "Just wait up, she couldn't have gone far. Besides, she's got about half a dozen Ministry Aurors chasing her; they'll catch up to her."  
  
Harry paused and listened to Ron for a moment. He knew that Cassie couldn't outrun or outsmart Aurors like Moody or Kingsley Shacklebolt. But there was another part, the part that made him do extremely foolish things without thinking, telling him to go out and find her himself. "And besides," Ron explained as he stifled another yawn, "do you really think she's going to listen to you after you punched her? She'd probably try to curse you if you got to her first." Harry nodded.  
  
"Yea I suppose you're right. I think I'll just stay up, to make sure she gets back okay." Harry said as he sat down on a chair by the desk. Ron hadn't heard him though; the red headed boy was already fast asleep, his mouth hanging open.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was nearing three o' clock in the morning when Harry heard some activity from downstairs. He slowly got up from his seat, his legs stiff and sore from sitting in the wooden chair for almost three hours.  
  
Harry walked out onto the landing that overlooked the foyer and the front parlor where Mrs. Black was hanging. He was just in time to see Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad Eye Moody hurry into the front hall, a struggling figure between them. Tonks and the rest of the Aurors weren't far behind. Harry watched in a silent stupor as Tonks hurried into the kitchen to fetch Remus and Romulus Lupin. The two brothers walked out of the kitchen both of them looking extremely tired and upset. Mrs. Weasley was following behind the two men looking extremely worried.  
  
Harry watched as Moody and Shacklebolt let the figure go and it fell to the floor with a thump. Harry heard the figure mutter something as Moody walked up to Remus and said something that Harry couldn't hear. Then, Moody, Mrs. Weasley, the rest of the Aurors, and Professor Lupin walked towards their different bedrooms leaving Remus Lupin and the figure alone in the foyer.  
  
"You know that was an extremely stupid thing to do," Remus said his voice set in a dangerous tone. Harry could feel his stomach leap, he had never heard Sirius' friend speak in that tone of voice before.  
  
The figure jumped to his feet and Harry realized that it was Cassandra. Even though Ron had been right that Cassie wouldn't have been able to outrun or outsmart the Ministry's top Aurors, she had put up one heck of a fight. The girl had scratches on her face and her black eye was bruised even more, her eye almost swelled shut. She had a large gash on her forehead and her bare arms were scratched and bruised as well.  
  
"I had to get out," was Cassie's simple reply.  
  
"What do I have to do to make you understand Cassandra? This isn't a game anymore! You're not taking this. . .this thing very seriously and everyone is getting fed up with you!" Lupin explained his voice rising slightly.  
  
"I do understand! I understand everything completely and I know it isn't a game! Not when people's lives are on the line! I'm not stupid Remus, I wasn't born yesterday! Just let me deal with this in my own way,"  
  
"Running away doesn't solve anything Cassie. If something had happened to you. . ."  
  
"Nothing can happen to me Remus!" Cassie said loudly before she gave a feeble laugh.  
  
"Yes! Things can happen to you Cassie. You saw what happened when you dueled my brother a month ago. You saw what could happen to you if you aren't careful!"  
  
"I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you!"  
  
"Why did you run away Cass?" Remus asked as he tried to stop their rising argument.  
  
"I had to get away from here. You have no idea what it feels like. The pain's getting worse, you know what that means," Cassie said her voice somber.  
  
"If you keep drinking that potion it'll help!" Remus explained, "You've been taking it haven't you because you know that Severus is the only person who can make it."  
  
"Yes I know and I have been drinking the potion. But. . .even that isn't helping me. I figured if I ran far away from here, the pain would stop and I wouldn't have to worry about anything again. But it isn't working nothing's working." Cassie said, "God why did he do this to me?" She said in a whisper.  
  
"He didn't know Cassie. None of us knew." Remus said in a sympathetic voice. He moved in to his daughter his arm going around her shoulder in an awkward hug.  
  
"I JUST WANT IT TO STOP!" Cassie sobbed loudly as she threw his arm off. She bolted towards the stairs and Harry sprang to his feet and ran to his room just as Cassie started to thunder up the stairs. He finally reached the confines of his room just as Cassie hurried past.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Cassie spent the rest of the holiday break in seclusion. Harry and his friends only saw her during meals and when she was there, she never spoke to anyone. If Tonks or her father asked her questions she would merely grunt in response before she took her dinner up to her room.  
  
Harry had told Ron and Hermione about her argument with Remus the night she ran away and both of them were at a loss for words. Hermione, for once in her life, looked genuinely confused. Not even books or writings could help figure out the inner workings of Cassandra Lupin's mind.  
  
Hermione had informed the two boys that Cassie had taken her things out of the room she shared with Hermione and Ginny. Instead, the girl opted for the drawing room where she conjured a sort of cot and squishy pillows and blankets for her to sleep on.  
  
The New Year was celebrated quietly, Cassie skipping out on the celebration in the kitchen entirely. Harry saw Remus and Romulus head upstairs a bit after midnight, probably offering the girl a bit of New Year Cheer before the start of term. Harry could hear yelling coming from upstairs and moments later Remus and Romulus came back downstairs both of them looking extremely dazed and confused. The two of them spent the rest of the night sitting in a corner in the kitchen, heads bent together in a serious conversation.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Thankfully the last day of the Winter Holiday dawned bright and sunny. Harry and the rest of the students had packed their school things with them the night before and they were ready to go back on the train to take them back for a new term of school.  
  
Harry got dressed and lugged his trunk downstairs towards the front hall where Hermione and Ginny were placing their trunks, Cassie nowhere to be seen. "Hello Harry," Ginny said with a smile as she picked up Crookshanks and patted the cat's head.  
  
"Hey, Ginny," he said returning his smile, "Where is everybody?"  
  
"Mum's flooing the Knight Bus headquarters, they're taking us to the station again. Everyone from the Order is coming with us to the station. I find it a bit funny if you ask me," Ginny said with a shrug before she headed into the kitchen.  
  
"Have you seen Cassie?" Hermione asked as Ginny disappeared into the kitchen.  
  
"No. And I really could care less where she is," Harry said coldly as he placed his trunk next to Hermione's, Hedwig's cage firmly placed on top. He couldn't help but still feel mad at the girl. It had been almost a week since their fight but he kept thinking back to what she said about his godfather and he wanted to hit her all over again.  
  
"Oh, Harry. You really need to stop this. Cassie's just miserable and everyone around the house is just as bad. Professor Lupin and Remus were arguing earlier this morning about her. . ."  
  
"Look, we're going back to Hogwarts today and I really don't want to worry about her. If you ask me, she's being selfish and she's making everybody miserable because she can't be happy," Harry explained but Hermione wasn't listening. Harry noticed that Hermione was looking at the staircase; a surprised look on her face.  
  
Harry turned around and saw Cassie standing at the base of the stairs. She was wearing jeans and a long sleeved red sweater, her long black hair hanging down, trying to shield her bruised eye. Harry knew Cassie had heard everything he had said judging by the look on her face.  
  
"Hi Cassie," Hermione said with a comforting smile. Harry looked to see what Cassie's response would be, anger seething in him even when he looked at her. Cassie didn't say a word; she looked straight towards the large front oak doors, her trunk dragging behind her. Cassie dropped her trunk next to Harry's before she turned around and without one word, walked straight back up the stairs again, Ron descending the stairs, trunk in tow. He gave Cassie a strange look as she shot him a nasty look before disappearing on the second floor.  
  
"What was that about?" Ron asked as he dropped his trunk on top of Ginny's looking up after Cassie. Harry shrugged and Hermione gave him a skeptical look. The group ate breakfast downstairs, not surprised in the least bit that Cassie didn't join them. The cluster ate in silence, Hermione looking perfectly pleased that she would be returning to school. Professor Lupin and Remus were extremely curt to each other during breakfast and Mrs. Weasley tried to strike up a conversation between the two. Nothing worked.  
  
With a sigh, Mrs. Weasley checked her watch and let out an outcry of surprise, "Oh my stars! Hurry up you lot, hurry up! The Knight Bus will be here in minutes! Get your things outside, go on hurry up!" Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were pushed out of the kitchen by a frantic Mrs. Weasley. Once they got to the front hall, they noticed that the entire assembly from the Order was in the hallway, all of them had heavy winter cloaks on and they were looking upstairs expectantly.  
  
"I'll get her," Remus explained to the Order before he started up the stairs and walked into the depths of the Black House. Harry noticed that Mrs. Black was awake in her portrait, the curtains flinging back. Tonks flinched, waiting the blow from Mrs. Black but nothing came. Harry could tell the portrait was about to tell everybody in the hall off, the large woman was taking a sharp intake of breath but she was cut short when she saw Remus Lupin walk down the stairs, a grumpy Cassie following him.  
  
"You. . .GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! LEAVE YOU FILTH! NEVER POSION THIS HOUSE WITH YOUR PRESENCE AGAIN! NEVER BRING THAT-THAT THING OF GREAT PERIL IN THIS HOME AGAIN! YOU WILL NEVER BE WELCOMED HERE AGAIN! BLOOD TRAITOR OF A B." Mrs. Black screamed. It was the loudest Harry had ever heard the portrait scream in his entire time spent at the Black House and it looked as if the rant was directed towards Cassandra.  
  
"WOULD SOMEONE SHUT HER UP?" Moody bellowed loudly as he lunged towards the portrait, Mrs. Black giving up a tremendous fight to get her last word out. It took nearly half of the Order to shut the curtains over Mrs. Black, Kreacher dancing at their feet, cursing their names and yelling words of encouragement to his mistress.  
  
Harry looked back over towards Cassie and saw that she hadn't moved a muscle. The girl hadn't even twitched. She was standing at the base of the stairs, Lupin turning around to see what she was doing. Harry noticed the two were exchanging a sort of silent conversation, he noticed Cassie's eyes grow hard with anger, Lupin's eyes warm and pleading.  
  
"Hurry up! The Knight Bus will leave us if we don't hurry!" Mrs. Weasley yelled from the front door. The woman opened the front door, Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie carrying out all the school trunks to the end of the street. "Ah.nine thirty, should be here any moment," Mrs. Weasley muttered to herself. And sure enough, at exactly nine thirty there was a loud BANG! And a large, three Decker purple bus appeared in front of Number 12.  
  
The conductor got out of the Knight Bus, and Harry was happy to see that Stan Shunpike was not conducting this particular run. He didn't want to talk to Stan about his recent tryst in the Ministry of Magic. Talking about it made Sirius' death seem real.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took a few seats near the front of the bus, Ginny sitting with her four older brothers. Harry saw Cassie take a seat near the end of the bus, away from all the activity. Harry noticed that all of the Order seemed to move over towards Cassie and he saw the girl give a heavy sigh before she stared out the window.  
  
"Wonder why the Order had to come with us," Ron said as the bus took off with another loud BANG!  
  
"They're obviously watching Cassie; they probably don't want her running off again. She nearly escaped them the last time she tried it," Hermione muttered to Harry and Ron.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The Knight Bus safely arrived at King's Cross Station at ten o' clock. Remus paid the conductor and they got the school trunks unloaded. Harry walked with Ron and Hermione watching in wonder as Cassie was flanked by her Order guards. Harry knew he would die in embarrassment if he was forced to be followed by a large guard to a train. Cassie seemed unfazed though although she seemed like she would have rather been swallowed by a hole than be escorted to the train by half a dozen of the Ministry's Aurors.  
  
They crossed the barriers to the Platform and Harry and his friends found a compartment in the middle of the train. Ginny said goodbye to them and headed off to find some of her other year mates. Harry looked out onto the platform and saw that Remus was talking to Cassie who was about to board the train. The Aurors were standing back against the wall, trying to look inconspicuous but it proved difficult when Tonks kept changing her appearance.  
  
"Be careful, you don't know what could happen," Harry heard Remus say to his daughter, "And don't let up on your studies because of. . .well, don't let up Cassie alright?" Remus asked. He tried to hug his daughter but Cassie stepped up onto the train just as the whistle started to sound. Remus stepped back, a hurt look on his face as the train started to hurtle forward.  
  
Harry watched as all of the adults Disapparated out of sight just as the last car of the train pulled out of the station. "Just think, in a few months we'll have finals," Ron said a dismayed tone in his voice. Hermione looked elated.  
  
"At least we'll have Quidditch," Harry said and he saw that Ron's mood lifted a bit.  
  
Harry and his friends were visited by some of their friends who had gone home for the holidays. Seamus and Dean stopped by for a quick moment, both of them sitting down for a spell.  
  
"Have you seen Cassie?" Seamus asked them before he exchanged a curious look with Seamus.  
  
"Since she's been on the train?"  
  
"No, have you seen her face? It's all cut up and bruised. She went to spend the holidays with you three, what happened?" Dean asked excitedly. Harry looked at Ron who just shrugged. It was best not to explain everything that happened and both Ron and Harry looked towards Hermione for some sort of explanation that could save them from explaining the real origins of Cassie's wounds.  
  
"She had a rather bad run in with a Filibuster Firework," Hermione said rather dismissively which told the two boys to drop the subject. Harry let out a breath of relief; thank God for Hermione. Both Seamus and Dean looked crestfallen.  
  
"Oh," Seamus began, "well, we'll see you later," and with that the two left the compartment in search of Lavender and Parvati.  
  
"Where is Cassie?" Ron asked after a few minutes of silence. Hermione had left a few minutes earlier to go change into her Hogwarts robes even though they were a few hours from arriving. She was also patrolling the corridors to make sure everyone was behaving themselves and she was just returning to their compartment when Ron imposed the question.  
  
"I saw her near the front of the train. She's sitting with some Gryffindor first years. I heard her yelling at them earlier for letting a bunch of Fred and George's Snapping Snakes off in the compartment. I haven't heard a peep from that compartment during my watch. She'd make a better prefect than Draco that's for sure," Hermione explained as she took a seat next to Crookshanks, the cat purring loudly.  
  
"I'm guessing she's in a bad mood then," Ron said, "After all, she did give Fred and George that idea about the Snapping Snakes and that's one of their best selling products right now."  
  
"Can we please not talk about Cassie?" Harry snapped as he opened up a box of Chocolate Frogs.  
  
"Oh Harry! This needs to stop! Everyone is going to be miserable if you two are going to continue to have this enormous rift between the two of you! Just make up would you?" Hermione ridiculed. Crookshanks leapt into the air, a tuft of cat fur clutched in Hermione's hand, "Oh! I'm sorry Crookshanks!" Hermione exclaimed. The cat had gone over to the other side of the compartment and curled up next to Ron an angry look settled onto the cat's squashed face.  
  
"No. You heard what she said about Sirius and I'm not apologizing until she takes back what she said," Harry said a stubborn edge creeping around his voice.  
  
"You're acting like a kid Harry! This is so stupid; can't you two handle this in an adult manner?"  
  
Harry didn't say anything. Harry knew he was acting childish but he needed someone to blame right now. He was on his nerve's end and if something else happened he would lose it. Having someone to blame for all his dreams, all his bad memories, and all his grief was somewhat comforting to him and he didn't care if he was acting like a child! It was better to just blame someone else for something than to try and figure out the source of his problems. Besides, Cassie deserved her exile. She had crossed the line when she had mentioned Sirius and he didn't care how many people were upset with him or her. She had tainted Sirius' memory and he would make sure she would never forget it.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"What?" Harry snapped back, his temper starting to get the better of him. Hermione looked a bit hurt and she quickly buried her face in an enormous book on advanced charms. Harry sighed and sat back in his seat looking out the enormous window at the rolling hills and the darkening day sky. He couldn't wait for the train ride to be over.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station a little bit after six o' clock that evening. Harry, Ron, and Hermione got their things unloaded and found themselves a carriage that they shared with Ginny and Neville. Harry saw Cassie hurry into a carriage with Katie Bell and some other Gryffindor seventh years. Harry could tell that Katie and Cassie were talking about Quidditch; he could just make out the Gryffindor captain's energetic face as they talked about some new maneuvers they were going to try for the start up of the season.  
  
"We have the first game against Ravenclaw," Katie explained to Cassie as they stepped up into a carriage, "it's this weekend actually so we're starting practices tomorrow after classes. Could you tell Harry and Ron for me?"  
  
"Tell them yourself, I'm not speaking to them," Harry heard Cassie mutter before Hermione and Ron bickered for him to get inside the carriage. The carriages started off at a rickety pace through the still and silent night, Ginny and Neville comparing their winter holidays and the gifts they received for Christmas.  
  
They finally got into the castle where Peeves greeted them with frozen icicles, throwing them around at students. Professor McGonagall hurried out into the foyer of the school, her face a plum color, her eyes shining with malice. "PEEVES! Stop that this instant or I'll find the Bloody Baron!" McGonagall bellowed. Peeves responded by blowing her a wet raspberry before he flew off through one of the walls, cackling madly as he went. "Miss Lupin I would like to speak to you for a moment," the Transfiguration professor announced to the students in the Great Hall. Cassie made her way up to the teacher the woman's lips pursed together in an unsatisfied smile.  
  
The rest of the students looked at Professor McGonagall expectantly, looking for a bit of direction, "What are you all standing around here for? Get into the Great Hall you lot. . . all of you," McGonagall scolded. All of the students save the Slytherins winced before they shoved off towards the Great Hall.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their usual seats at the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall. Dumbledore gave his welcoming speech before he spoke a few magic words and the food popped up from the bottom of the table and onto their plates, Harry's stomach growling profusely.  
  
It seemed like everyone at the Gryffindor Table was talking about Cassie's mysterious injuries she obtained over Winter Break, all of them looking over at Harry, Ron, or Hermione as if expecting some sort of explanation. It wasn't until the end of dinner was nearing that Harry realized that Cassie hadn't even shown up for the welcome back feast and it wasn't like her to miss meals. 'She might have gone up to the Common Room. She probably doesn't want people asking her all sorts of questions,' Harry thought to himself as he and the rest of his fellow Gryffindors headed up to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
Ron and Hermione had already been instructed to give out the password to the rest of the Gryffindors (Perveus Naess) and Hermione said the password loudly in case anyone had forgotten the password since they had been told five minutes previous.  
  
The Fat Lady swung open and they were greeted with angry screams and the crashing of heavy objects in the common room. For a split second, Harry thought that some Slytherins had found the password to Gryffindor Tower and were ransacking the place and as he, Ron, and Hermione surged forward ahead of the crowd they saw that the situation was a completely different circumstance.  
  
Cassandra Lupin was standing in the middle of the common room, a demolished chair at her side. The girl seemed to be consumed with rage as she let out a gnarled scream and threw one of the chair legs at a portrait of one of the old Gryffindor Head of Houses. The old man gasped out in shock and he dove out of the way just as the heavy roll of wood slammed into the side of the portrait, causing the glass to crack.  
  
"What's going on?" Hermione demanded as she hurried forward and grabbed Cassie's arm, restraining the girl from throwing another chair leg at a portrait of McGonagall. "Cassie you need to stop this or I'll be forced to give you a detention!"  
  
"Buzz off Hermione!" Cassie growled. Harry could feel a wave of Gryffindors pressing behind him, all of them trying to get a glimpse of what was going on in their common room. Ron and Harry tried to control the crowd while trying to listen to Cassie's excuse at the same time.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked as she ripped the chair leg from Cassie's grasp.  
  
"They're making me quit Quidditch that's what they're doing!" Cassie bellowed in rage as she snatched the chair leg back and hurled it into the fireplace.  
  
"Cassie listen to me, you need to calm down or I'll be forced to get McGonagall, you wouldn't want any points taken off from Gryffindor would you?" Hermione asked her voice soothing.  
  
"She already took one hundred points from Gryffindor," Cassie snapped back rudely before she turned around and headed towards the Girls' dormitory without acknowledging the rest of her housemates.  
  
Hermione shook her head and Harry and Ron finally allowed the rest of the Gryffindors to enter the common room. Hermione cleaned up the mess in the common room with a few flicks of her wand before she sat down in an armchair, clearly exhausted from the day's events.  
  
Ginny came back down from the girl's dormitory a few minutes later an abrasive growl escaping her lips. "Where were you?" Ron asked his sister as she sat down next to him on one of the couches.  
  
"I just got back from talking to Cassie. Apparently she's mad at you too Hermione, for stopping her little tirade," Ginny explained.  
  
"Figures," Hermione replied before she rolled her eyes and looked into the fire, a far away look settling on her eyes.  
  
"What got her riled up like that?" Ron asked as he looked cautiously over towards the girl's dormitories half expecting Cassie to be listening in on their conversation.  
  
"She had a talk with McGonagall. She said that she shouldn't play Quidditch anymore because of her behavior over winter break and the injuries she sustained during Christmas holiday," Ginny elucidated. Ron's mouth fell open and Harry looked just as surprised.  
  
"But McGonagall can't just sack her because of what she did over Christmas holiday! That isn't fair!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"Well, apparently, Remus Lupin sent Professor McGonagall a note while we were on our way to Hogwarts. Seems that he doesn't want her playing Quidditch anymore, and neither does Professor Lupin." Ron whistled lowly before he looked outside towards the Quidditch pitch. It was snowing a bit and Harry knew that it was going to be a very cold practice tomorrow.  
  
"Who's her replacement?"  
  
"They're using Seamus as an alternate Beater. I think McGonagall offered Cassie the commentator position but from what Cassie told me, she told McGonagall she could take the microphone and shove it up her arse," Ginny explained.  
  
Even Hermione snapped out of her trance looking at Ginny as if she had said something much worse, "You've got to be pulling our leg. She didn't really say that to McGonagall did she?" Hermione asked in awe. Ginny nodded before she continued.  
  
"That's why she took off one hundred points from Gryffindor, because Cassie disrespected her. I'll tell you one thing though, I have a feeling Cassie isn't going to be a happy camper during this week."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Ginny didn't know how true her statement was until they got a load of Cassie the next morning at breakfast. The girl seemed to have developed a permanent scowl on her face and she didn't even acknowledge her uncle when he said good morning to her when she entered the Great Hall.  
  
Cassie's bad mood increased once the sixth year Gryffindors entered their afternoon Transfiguration class. They were sharing their class with the Slytherins that day and Harry and his friends stayed as far away from Malfoy as possible.  
  
Malfoy was elated at the fact that Cassie was kicked off the Gryffindor team but he didn't express his happiness. Harry knew that Draco wasn't stupid, the boy knew about Cassie's temper and to cross her while she was in an extremely bad mood was suicide.  
  
Cassie took a seat near Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, both of them looking at Cassie as if she were about to attack them. McGonagall entered through a door that obviously lead to her office. She looked extremely irked and when she shot Cassandra a wicked glance, Harry had a feeling that the two were going to butt heads an awful lot.  
  
That particular day, the sixth year students were transfiguring their text books into math books made for muggle students. "Remember that you need to think about the mathematical equations very clearly in your mind or you'll screw the book up," McGonagall instructed as Hermione turned her text into an enormous muggle math book.  
  
Harry looked over at Cassie and saw that she had transfigured her book successfully but he could see swear words and nasty phrases scrolling across the top of her book. At that exact same moment, Professor McGonagall came over to her desk and looked down at Cassie's book, "What are you doing Miss Lupin?" McGonagall demanded as Cassie leaned back in her seat a pleased expression on her face, "Wipe off those words this instant!" Harry could tell that the professor was losing her patience, her face was becoming blotchy and she was swelling up like a puffer fish.  
  
Cassie paid no heed at the professor's words and she whispered an incantation and the book started to yell out its bawdy messages, McGonagall going red in the face. "This is unacceptable Miss Lupin! Stop this instant!" she cried, but the book only started to scream louder and Harry could hear several different doors from other classrooms being opened up. Professor McGonagall was shaking and Harry knew that Cassandra had crossed the line. McGonagall was shaking so badly that her hair was coming out of its perfect bun, strands falling across her beet red face. Harry could hear Malfoy and his cronies laughing quietly as the professor transfigured the book back into its quiet, original form. Harry shrank in his seat, waiting for the full blow.  
  
"THREE HUNDRED FIFTY POITNS FROM GRYFFINDOR, MISS LUPIN! A MONTH'S DETENTION AND A PERMANENT BANISHMENT FROM QUIDDITCH!" The professor screamed finally loosing her composure. Cassie sat in her seat, still as a stone as McGonagall went off on her tirade. Harry saw Hermione cover her ears and look away wincing as the professor gave her sentence. "Do not come back to my classroom until you are adult enough to attend it," she told Cassie. The scowl still on her face, Cassie packed her things and walked silently from the classroom, Malfoy turning red as he tried to hold in his laughter.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Sorry that took so long to get up! I'm sorry I was so late and I hope I didn't lose any readers over my lack of updating! I'm going to start working on seventeen sometime this week and maybe get it posted by the end of this weekend *hopefully* Anyway..review, review, review! ( 


	17. Tragedy in Numbers

I know I haven't updated in forever and finally I am proud to bring you 19 wonderful pages of Chapter 17! I want to thank all of my readers for being SO patient as I wrote this story. So here are my long lists of thank yous before we get into Chapter 17.  
  
Zdanz: Thank you for thinking that my story is the best on the web! Even after almost two months of not updating you are sticking by me and I really, really appreciate it!  
  
NimbusB: I know that Cassie's starting to get brutal but just you wait and see how things turn out.you'll be surprised I promise *wink wink*  
  
Star: Thank you for your update! And yeah.it would be suicide to talk back to a infuriated McGonagall!  
  
Coolerimmortal: I'm glad you thought Chapter 16 to be funny! I have like NO talent in humorous fictions but I enjoy reading them and I'm glad you thought that I have humor! Hee hee  
  
Tessa66: That would be nice to have a big convo about the Black Diamond and it might come to that (I already have my big climax to the story written!) And I hope that you continue reading my story!  
  
Lily Skylo: No comment! Lol. Don't worry, you'll find out the truth soon enough. . .just make sure you email me if you have any suspicions about the plot and so on. Aislin_Fiction_Writer@hotmail.com  
  
Snivellus: Please don't send hell my way! I've already been there the past month! Don't worry I'm not giving up on the story, not at all! I've just been so busy with school and after school activities that it gets harder and harder to get onto the Internet and write updates! I haven't had a chance to get to the end of United Enemies (I barely have time to write my own chapters!) But as soon as I get the chance I will read your updates and give you oodles and oodles of reviews!  
  
Bukama: Thanks for checking out my story and thanks for you suggestions. I intended to have the last two letters be from Ron. I noticed that in some of J.K.'s works he gives Harry a regular letter and then another letter that goes with his present. Thank you for your review!  
  
I have no idea when I will be able to start writing Chapter 18.but you'll find out lots and lots of stuff in 18 so be prepared to kill me! Hahaha no seriously Chapter 18 is going to be the best one yet and I can't wait to get started! Okay.now that thank yous are done. I give you *drum roll* Chapter 17! FINALLY! Lol enjoy and give feedback! It keeps me going!  
  
Chapter 17  
  
Tragedy in Numbers  
  
The rest of the week was extremely uneventful in retrospect to their first day back to Hogwarts. Cassie hadn't had any abnormal outbursts in any of her other classes and she kept her temper mostly in check.  
  
If Harry had thought their second term back to Hogwarts was going to be as easy as the first, he would have been extremely wrong. The teachers had pushed their students' noses to the grindstone and they were assigned homework and essays left and right. Sometimes Harry didn't know which way was up when it came to his homework. Snape had assigned them a rather nasty thirty-six inch essay on the properties of hemlock plants and why they are as dangerous as they were. Flitwick and McGonagall wanted them to master the Tongue less Tirade Hex and vanish their pets respectively for Monday when Harry could only make half of Ron's tongue disappear and Hedwig to have a sort of misty glow about her.  
  
Cassie's mood, however, seemed to have worsened by the end of the week, if that was even possible. The girl seemed to have acquired a permanent scowl and she was very short with the rest of the students and teachers. All of the Gryffindors shunned Cassie out of their daily regime. Because of Cassie and her big mouth, Gryffindor was in last place for the House Cup and it didn't look like they would recover.  
  
And yet, Harry sort of felt sorry for Cassie. Even though she slandered Sirius' name and lost them house points she was going through a lot to keep her under pressure. Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin saw it fit to follow through and give Cassie her month's detention. Harry had seen Cassie carry out her punishment almost every night that week. Filch would stand over Cassie as she scrubbed the stands of the Quidditch pitch every evening after dinner when most of the House Quidditch practices took place. She would also be sprucing up the pitch before and after the Gryffindor game that upcoming Saturday.  
  
The Quidditch practices weren't the same without Cassie at all. Seamus was far too serious with his responsibilities as a beater and Neville seemed to have lost his courage without Cassie there beside him. For the first time in five years, Harry had watched the worst bit of defensive playing by a Gryffindor team. What was worse was Cassie was forced to watch these practices while she cleaned the stands, the players flying around a heavy reminder of what happens to people who cross McGonagall one step too far.  
  
Even though their practices were scheduled every day right after classes got out, Katie was forced to cancel practice that Wednesday because of a small snow storm that passed through during the night. Cassie still had to clean the pitch however and Harry saw all the lights were turned on at the pitch, the snow falling heavily onto the grounds. Cassie was no doubt shoveling the snow off of the stands and onto the frozen ground below.  
  
On Thursday however, the team was forced to return to their practices with extreme urges from Katie. They made their way out onto the pitch that day in their Quidditch uniforms, all of them wrapping their Gryffindor scarves around their necks.  
  
"Just bloody wonderful. . ."Harry heard Katie mutter to herself. The Quidditch team had just made their way out onto the pitch when they noticed the entire Slytherin team and most of their die-hard supporters sitting up in the stands, jeering at the Gryffindors.  
  
"Oy, Scarhead!" Malfoy called out making Pansy Parkinson laugh loudly. Harry scowled and he and Ron walked closer together, "Your girlfriend's a bit battered up isn't she," he commented pointing over to Cassie who was on the opposite side of the pitch, cleaning up some trash left behind from the Slytherin team. Harry saw Cassie's head fly up, her black hair falling across her face. He saw her shoot Malfoy a dirty look before she went back to picking up trash and shoveling snow. "I mean look at her. . .look how dirty she's getting! She almost looks like a Weasley. . . dad says they live in a pig sty," Malfoy added. Harry saw Ron's ears glow pink as he shot Malfoy a look of pure hatred. The rest of the Slytherins laughed loudly Crabbe and Goyle sniggering behind Malfoy.  
  
"Ignore him Ron. . ." Harry whispered to his friend. Katie blew her whistle, calling the Gryffindor team to order. She quickly explained their practice regime and with another blow of her whistle, the seven took off into the air, Katie releasing the balls before taking off. Harry kicked off from the ground, glad to be in the air once again. He looked down at the stands and saw Cassie had stopped briefly to watch them take off. Harry could hear the Slytherins laughing about something, Malfoy pointing at Cassie and laughing. Harry couldn't help but smile when he saw Cassie send a rude gesture in the Slytherins' direction before she continued to clean.  
  
Katie blew her whistle once more, signaling the start of their practice game. Harry flew about the field watching for signs of the snitch. After finding no trace of the small ball, Harry hovered a bit in the middle of the field and watched the practice. Katie, Ginny, and Dean were passing the Quaffle back and forth, falling into a formation and then falling out of it again, one of them passing the Quaffle to another with flawless accuracy. Ginny had taken hold of the Quaffle as she raced towards the hoops, a hungry glint in Ron's eyes as he looked at the Quaffle. Ginny let the ball fly and Ron rushed forward, grabbing the Quaffle and throwing it to Dean who raced off towards the other end of the pitch, the Quaffle tucked underneath his arm.  
  
"Throw the Bludger at him Seamus, you stop him Neville!" Katie shouted out as she flew a few feet behind Dean. Harry watched as Seamus smacked the Bludger with all his might, sending it twenty feet from where Dean was. Harry heard the Slytherins shriek with laughter as Neville rushed to meet the ball. He stopped in mid-flight, covered his face with his left arm and threw his right arm in the air blindly trying to hit the Bludger.  
  
"Neville look out!" Harry yelled out, but it was too late. He watched as the Bludger came rushing towards Neville, the boy not looking at anything but the inside of his arm. Harry tensed as the Bludger hit him in the stomach, his ribs breaking with a sickening crack. Harry heard the breath leaving Neville's body as he let go of his broom, clutching his stomach. Harry watched in horror as he watched his friend start to fall from the broom. He tired to block out the Slytherins' jeers as Neville dropped like a stone to the ground, thirty feet below.  
  
'Mobiliarous!' Harry heard someone yell. He watched in a frozen stupor as Neville's decent to the ground slowed greatly. He was five feet from the ground when he stopped completely, frozen in midair. Harry looked in the direction of where the spell had come from and he looked over to the right side of the pitch and saw Cassie with her wand pointing in Neville's direction. She had saved his life.  
  
Harry reached the ground first and he dismounted his broom and headed to where Cassie and Neville were waiting. Harry saw that the Beater's nose was bleeding and he was holding onto his stomach gingerly, tears stinging his eyes.  
  
"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked looking over his friend, a worried expression on his face.  
  
"I think so. . . he needs to get up to the hospital wing though," Cassie answered as the rest of the team reached the ground.  
  
"Unbelievable. First Cassie and now Neville; I hope he'll heal before the game on Saturday or we'll need another beater. Cassie, Harry, take Neville up to the hospital wing. I'm going to go over a few things with everyone else. I'll send Ginny looking for the Snitch," Katie explained.  
  
"Look at that! Do you reckon Longbottom'll go mad?" Harry heard Malfoy as he and the Slytherins stopped their laughing, "Maybe they'll throw him next to his crazy parents as well."  
  
"Shut up Malfoy!" Harry yelled out. "Fantis Arcanus"" a jet of blue light erupted out of Harry's wand and hit Malfoy smack in the face. Malfoy was thrown off his feet and Pansy screamed loudly. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles as they waited to see if Malfoy was alright. Harry watched as Malfoy got to his feet and tried to say something but the words came out as a jumbled mix. Harry smiled, he had finally gotten the hang of that Tongue- less Tirade curse.  
  
"Good one," Cassie said before she started to lead an unconscious Neville up to the castle.  
  
"Thanks. Hopefully it'll take a while for Malfoy to find a counter- curse for that one," Harry explained as he looked over at Neville.  
  
"I wish there was a way to make his voice disappear forever," Cassie commented as they made their way up the castle steps.  
  
"Why just make his voice disappear? Why don't we make all of him disappear?" Harry suggested. Cassie looked at him and then started to laugh softly. Her laughter grew until she started to laugh uncontrollably finally coming into stitches. Harry realized this had been the first time, in a long time, he had heard Cassie laugh. He hadn't heard her laugh since before their fight. . .  
  
And then Harry remembered why he and Cassie had had that fight. He remembered why he wasn't talking to Cassie. She had tainted Sirius' name. . .yelled out that he deserved to die. Harry realized he had been talking to Cassie when he didn't want to. Harry seethed as Cassie continued to laugh loudly. Did she think he was going to accept her just like that? That an unfortunate accident with Neville and him cursing Malfoy would make him reconcile with her? Cassie's laughter died away suddenly as if she knew why Harry was still silent.  
  
They finally got to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey taking Neville with an exasperated sigh. Harry and Cassie walked over to the exit when they ran into Ron. He looked extremely flustered and his face was flushed a pinkish color as if he had run the whole distance from the pitch. "Is Neville okay?" Ron asked hurriedly.  
  
"He's fine. A few broken ribs, he'll be out of the hospital wing by tomorrow," Cassie said, her voice low as she threw Harry a dirty look. Ron looked between Harry and Cassie a confused look on his face.  
  
"Will he be able to play Quidditch?" Ron asked as he tried to look over Cassie to see where Neville was.  
  
"Don't know," Harry said with a shrug as he returned Cassie's dirty look.  
  
"I'm going to the common room. . .excuse me," Cassie said solemnly before she pushed past Harry and Ron and sauntered off towards Gryffindor Tower. Ron gave Harry a confusing look as they watched Cassie's tall figure fade away. "What's her problem?" Ron asked.  
  
"What do you think?" Harry asked his voice growing cold. After making sure Neville was okay, the two of them walked towards the Great Hall to meet up with Hermione for dinner.  
  
"You seemed to be alright when you two left the pitch," Ron commented as they walked down the ground floor.  
  
"Yeah, well that was different." Harry said his voice wandering off as they made their way into the Great Hall, the sounds of chattering and eating students filling the large room. They found Hermione milling over her Advanced Transfiguration text book reviewing her notes.  
  
"What're you studying for?" Ron asked as he and Harry took a seat on either side of her, "I was almost positive you finished your homework eons ago." Hermione looked up and shot him a dirty look.  
  
"For your information, we have a Transfiguration quiz tomorrow and I was merely reviewing my notes," Hermione said stiffly throwing her nose up in the air before she went back to her notes again. Harry felt his heart fall through his stomach. He had completely forgotten about McGonagall's exam set for tomorrow. He hadn't been paying attention in her class at all; his mind was busy lulling over Sirius and Cassandra. It was apparent that Ron had forgotten about this test. He swore so loudly that a few students from the Ravenclaw table shot him dirty looks.  
  
"You can't be serious!" Ron exclaimed loudly as he made a wild grab for Hermione's notes. She got out of her seat quickly and shot him an accusing look, "Hermione will you help me? My marks are going to plummet if you don't help me!"  
  
"It's no one's fault but your own," said Hermione as she stuffed her notes inside her bag along with her Transfiguration book. Ron gave her a sad look, puffing out his lower lip.  
  
"C'mon Hermione," he said in a persuading voice, "It wouldn't be much fun for you if Harry and I got held back a year while you went on to seventh year. Who'd be there to keep you from turning into McGonagall's clone?" Ron asked sweetly before he made another grab for her bag. Hermione turned around quickly and rolled her eyes in the process.  
  
"Alright, alright, Ron! If it'll keep you from badgering me all night I'll help you and Harry review!" she said throwing her hands up in the air letting out a small cry of frustration. Ron smiled and threw Harry a look, "Excellent!" he said, "Well, lets take this food to go and head up for the common room," he said before he started to throw assorted foods into his pockets. He threw Harry a look and soon the two of them had Salisbury Steak and treacle tart and shepherds pie tucked safely away into their pockets and bags the three of them heading up to the common room.  
  
Once Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the common room, Transfiguration books and wands clutched firmly in their hands they hurried over for a table close to the fire, unaware of who was in the room. It was only until they saw the person rise did they realize they were not the only ones in the common room.  
  
Harry had never seen another teacher inside the Gryffindor common room except Professor McGonagall and those visits were to deliver rather grave announcements. But it was not Professor McGonagall in their common room but Professor Lupin. Harry watched with interest as the man rose to his feet, placing his hand on the shoulder of someone who flinched when he touched him. Harry could feel his scar prickling as he watched a long slender hand pick up Professor Lupin's hand, throwing it off of the person's shoulder. A scene flashed before his eyes as he watched a squat figure place a hand on a bald headed figure, a long, high pitched cackle sounding through his mind. The picture was gone in an instant and he was met with the sight of Romulus Lupin, his sandy blonde hair gray and thinning like his twin brother's. His brown eyes had a frustrated glint as he nodded curtly to Harry and his friends before heading out the portrait, his tall, lanky figure hunched over as he crawled out of the portrait hole.  
  
"That was rather odd," Ron commented before he urged Hermione to tell him about Advanced Vanishing Spells. Harry, however, still had his eyes trained on the high backed parlor chair the prickling in his scar diminishing to a low grumble. He saw Hermione give him a questionable look before his attention wandered back to his reviewing.  
  
"Hey Cassie, come and join us! We've got an exam in McGonagall's class tomorrow!" Ron said as he stood up and waved his arm. He saw Hermione shoot him a reproachful look and Harry gave him a stern scowl as Cassie turned around and looked at the three of them, her unpleasant glower still etched in her face. Harry then looked over at Hermione who seemed to have let her expression soften and she too waved her hand for Cassie to join them.  
  
"It's stupid really, this feud you have going with McGonagall," Hermione said with a shrug as she beckoned Cassie forward, "you don't want to fall behind do you?" Harry looked at his two best friends in shock. This was so stupid; he knew what they were trying to do. They were trying to ease Cassie back into their little group, to ease Harry and Cassie out of their private war until all was forgiven. Harry wasn't going to give up on it so easily. He wouldn't say anything to Cassie until she took back what she said about Sirius. There was no way around it. "Are you coming Cassie?" Ron asked with another wide smile.  
  
Cassie stood up and shook her head, "I'd rather fail my exam," she spat out before she shot all three of them a dirty look and walked haughtily towards the girl's dormitory. Harry saw Hermione blush a crimson color and he saw Ron's ears grow pink in anger and frustration. Harry just sat there and watched Cassie leave not caring at all that she had been exceedingly rude to his friends. She had it coming and Harry was sure he would give it to her in the end.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The day before the Quidditch match dawned early and Harry could feel the nervousness in his stomach settle there like an old friend, but it wasn't for the game, he was going to have a truly terrifying time with his Transfiguration exam. He was unable to retain any information on Advanced Vanishing Spells and there was no way he was going to master his Time Transformer Spell in such a short amount of time. He could always take refuge in the library during lunch and try to turn different books into clocks but he had a feeling Madame Pince wouldn't take to his idea too much.  
  
Harry noticed that most of his roommates were awake and getting dressed for the last day before the weekend. Harry was extremely pleased and he couldn't wait until the Quidditch match set for the next day. Somehow he had a feeling that getting up into the air again and hearing the cheering from the crowd would make him feel better. Harry quickly got dressed and grabbed his bag hoping to get a few more minutes of studying down at breakfast.  
  
The Great Hall was filled with chatting students, all of them excited about the first weekend of the second term. Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table and saw that Hermione was still pouring over her Transfiguration book even though she had successfully vanished half the furniture in the common room and transfigured almost every single inanimate object into a clock that not only told the times of London but Tokyo, Nepal, and New York City as well the night before. Harry noticed that Ron was still trying to get Cassie involved with breakfast time conversation but the black haired girl would have no part in it. Harry thought at one point that Cassie was going to jinx Ron who was trying to get her into a conversation about Quidditch, something Harry knew was going to be a touchy subject for the girl for quite a while.  
  
"Give it up Ron," Harry muttered to his friend as he piled some eggs onto his plate. He saw Ron throw him a look before he tried to talk about something with Cassie once more.  
  
"Harry's old Quidditch Captain, Oliver Wood plays for Puddlemere United now," he explained oblivious to the fact that Cassie was clattering plates around at a loud tone. "He was a smashing Keeper, better than me mind you, and Fred 'n George were the best beaters until that stupid Umbridge. . ."  
  
"Ron," Cassie said in a sickly sweet voice, "Do you hear that sound?" she asked cupping her ear as is she was straining to hear something quiet.  
  
Ron looked around stupidly and shook his head, "I don't hear anything Cassie, what is it?"  
  
"That would be the familiar sound of no one caring," Cassie retorted before she grabbed her books and strode away from the table leaving Ron with an angered expression on his face.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Cassie avoided Harry and his friends all day. Hermione kept telling Ron to stop trying to talk to Cassie but the boy wouldn't listen. Every chance he got he would try to talk to the young girl and every single time, Cassie would come up with a snide remark or sarcasm that would leave Ron sulking until the next time he tried to talk to her.  
  
Harry was getting extremely annoyed by this after lunch had come and gone, the sixth years heading towards Professor McGonagall's classroom lead in all of their footsteps. Hermione walked along brightly, almost floating as she took her seat in the front of the room, wand placed in front of her, her posture straight as a board as she waited for the start of the lesson.  
  
Professor McGonagall marched into the classroom, her green robes billowing behind her, her face set in a stern façade. She stopped behind her desk and looked out over the class. Harry saw her rise her eyebrows at a person in the back of the room. Harry turned around and saw that Cassie was sitting behind a desk, leaning back on two of the legs on her chair, legs on top of the desk. She reminded Harry of someone when she did that although Harry couldn't quite place who had taken a hold of his memories.  
  
"I will call you up individually and you will perform the incantations I ask you to perform," McGonagall said sternly before she started to call people up in random order. He saw Hermione give a nervous gulp and he saw Ron trying to go over his notes frantically, bits of parchment falling down onto the ground.  
  
Harry tried to remember all the incantations in his head and imagining the different objects turning into other items. He heard his name called and he walked up to the desk, wand clutched in his hand. He looked up at McGonagall and he could see the corners of her mouth curve up into a twitch of a smile. Harry then looked down at the desk and saw a rather hyper owl jumping around in a cage and a stack of books.  
  
"Make the owl vanish and bring it back," McGonagall instructed, "Then transfigure each of the books into a different clock from a different time zone." Harry nodded and decided to tackle the owl first. He was shocked to find that on the first try he was able to make the owl vanish without a trace. He looked up at the professor hoping she didn't see anything that could hurt his marks, then he brought the owl back and he almost groaned when he saw that one of his wings was still missing. He said the incantation again and brought the wing back to visible form before he turned to the books.  
  
He laid each of the five books out in front of him and set to work, "Clepsydra adfectio Tokyo," he said clearly, pointing his wand at one of the books. He smiled when he saw the book transform into a clock clearly stating the place at the bottom of the clock and the time of the city. He continued on with the four books, only messing up on New York City. Once he was finished, McGonagall nodded and marked something down on a clipboard before he took his seat.  
  
"Miss Lupin, if you would be so kind," he heard McGonagall's curt voice cut through the room. The class turned around and watched as Cassie placed all four feet of the chair on the ground with a thud. She got out of her seat, wand clutched firmly in her hand as she sauntered forward, pushing her hair back out of her face. Harry noticed that she made the owl disappear completely but was only able to make half of it reappear. Harry heard the owl give a hoot of displeasure before McGonagall transfigured the animal back to its right state. He saw that Cassie was growing red in the face and knew that if McGonagall didn't back off the student was about to burst.  
  
Harry gaped in surprise when he saw that McGonagall was talking to Cassie underneath her breath, a stern look on her face. If it was even possible, Cassie got redder in the face as she tried to transfigure the clocks. "It's for your own good," Harry heard McGonagall mutter. Harry looked over at Hermione who had undoubtedly heard this remark and they both turned back to hear Cassie's response.  
  
"I don't care. . .he's. . .a. . .prat," Harry heard Cassie mutter as she transfigured a clock to read Australia's time.  
  
"The wizarding. . . on . . .you," McGonagall whispered back in a fierce voice.  
  
"Screw the wizarding world!" Cassie said loudly as she smashed the Australia clock on the desk, shattering the face of the timepiece. Harry saw the glass cut into Cassie's hand and he saw the girl wince in pain before she turned around and walked out of the classroom not bothering to get her bag. Harry and the rest of the class looked up at McGonagall who cleared up the glass and looked around the classroom daring someone to speak up.  
  
"Mr. Weasley you're up," she said and Harry heard Ron mutter a curse before he stumbled to his feet and walked lankily up to McGonagall.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Their last class of the week was History of Magic with Professor Binns. Harry wasn't surprised when he realized Cassie didn't show up for class and Professor Binns showed no concern as he went on to talk about the Centaur Wars of 1543. Harry was already in a stupor and he could tell that Ron was busy mulling over his strategies for the game the next day. Once they were finally dismissed, the three went up to the common room to dispose of their books before they went back to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry was surprised to see that Cassie was not in the common room and deciding she was probably in the girls' dormitory feeling sorry for herself, he shrugged it of and followed his two friends down to dinner.  
  
Dinner was filled with the excited chit chat from the students, all the tables talking about the Quidditch match set for the next day. Harry spooned his pasta and looked over at Hermione who was talking to Ginny about something unknown to him. He turned to his left to start a conversation with Ron but was surprised when he saw that Ron had sneaked away from the table, leaving Harry alone in confusion. He turned towards Hermione and tapped her shoulder. She whirled around and seemed rather peeved that he had interrupted her conversation.  
  
"Where'd Ron go?" Harry asked her. He saw Hermione throw him a confused look and she looked around the Table and shrugged her shoulders when the familiar red Weasley hair couldn't be found.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe he went to practice for tomorrow or he thought he'd turn in early," Hermione pointed out, "Let's go look for him, dinner's nearly finished anyway." Harry nodded and he got up from his seat as Hermione hurriedly wiped her face with her napkin before she stood up to join him.  
  
The two set off towards Gryffindor Tower in silence, leaving behind the jovial sounds of the Great Hall following them before the noise disappeared completely bathing the two in stillness. They climbed the stairs that led up to Gryffindor Tower and they were finally rounding the top of the stairs that emptied them in the corridor, the Fat Lady's portrait a few yards in front of them. Hermione took a deep breath as if to say something but a scream of fury and pain interrupted her train of thought. They stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other. Hermione had gone pale and she had gripped Harry's arm in surprise. She let go quickly and reached for her wand, Harry following suit as the screams continued. Harry realized that it just wasn't one voice but two, two voices screaming at each other.  
  
Harry broke into a run, leaving Hermione's yells of protest to get a teacher behind. Something was happening in the common room, it sounded like someone was being tortured. Could the Death Eaters be here, torturing students for information? What if Ron was in there? Panic stricken thoughts ran through Harry's head as he bounded for the Fat Lady, yelling out the password at the last possible second. Harry didn't have to turn around to know that Hermione had abandoned her idea of getting a teacher and was running to catch up to Harry.  
  
The portrait swung open and Harry hurled himself into the portal scrambling to his feet as he dove into the common room. Once inside he found he was looking at an extremely similar scene. It almost looked like something that had happened two years previous, only this was much worse.  
  
Cassie and Ron were standing so close that not even a wand could pass between them, Ron's face was redder than his hair and Cassie had such a malicious look on her face that it looked like she would attack Ron at any second. Harry noticed that Cassie had not gone to the hospital wing to have Madame Pomfrey look at her hand. He saw that she had made a makeshift bandage that was soaked with blood around her hand. It looked like Cassie had said something extremely insulting judging by the look on Ron's face. Both of them stood there, breathing hard totally oblivious to the few first years who were cowering in the corner of the common room.  
  
"What is up with you? Why can't you just end this stupid fight with you and Harry?" Ron screeched throwing his hands up in the air. Cassie rolled her blue eyes and shifted her weight to her left foot throwing him a look of sheer hatred.  
  
"I'm not ending that fight with Harry, he deserved what he got! He deserved it - he. . ."  
  
"Was getting too close!" Ron yelled as he advanced towards Cassie. The girl didn't back down or flinch as Ron started to yell again, "Harry was right about you! You're just a scared little girl who keeps pushing people away! You're being so ruddy selfish it's unbelievable! A brainless git! You can't see that Remus is trying to be a good father or that Romulus is looking out for your well being! No, your head is too far stuck up your arse to notice anything!"  
  
"Don't start judging me Weasley! You don't know me at all! None of you know the first thing about me!"  
  
"Well I know something!" Ron said hotly his eyes shining viciously.  
  
"Well tell me then. . . I'd love to hear about it!" Cassie countered. If looks could kill, Ron would have been dead.  
  
"There's something about you that the Order's freaking out about. Something really important. Something he wants. You're a dangerous person . . . you have to be kept on a close watch. . .why they made you quit Quidditch. . ."  
  
"They did that because my grades were slipping and I was ill," Cassie said diligently.  
  
"Oh come off it Cassie! Make it easier on yourself!"  
  
"NO! You have no clue, no damn clue about anything! So keep your big mouth shut or you'll be in for an extremely rude awakening," Cassie growled her eyes narrowing before she lunged forward and gave Ron a shove. Harry heard Hermione gasp behind her as Ron stumbled back, the boy looking at Cassie with an extreme amount of hatred.  
  
"Is that a threat?" Ron asked his eyes growing wide.  
  
"No," she said and Harry saw Ron relax a little, "That's a bloody promise," she spat out before she pushed past him, nearly knocking him over as she headed towards the girl's dormitory.  
  
Harry looked over towards his friend. Ron was breathing hard, as if he had just run a marathon. His face was still flushed and he looked over at Harry an angry look on his face. "stupid. . . stupid, no good. . ." Harry heard Ron mutter before he sat down in an empty armchair with a plop.  
  
Ron did not speak to anyone for the rest of the night and when Katie ordered them to bed around nine thirty, Ron happily obliged. Harry watched with Hermione from the opposite end of the room as Ron sulked up the steps, an angry scowl on his face.  
  
"What was he rowing about with Cassie?" Seamus asked Harry when they were getting ready for bed. Ron had pulled the red velvet hangings around his bed closed, heavy, uneven breathing coming from behind it, "We could hear 'em screamin' all the way down the hall." Harry shrugged and Seamus looked at him, knowing he was lying.  
  
Harry took off his glasses, storing them on the bedside cabinet, his vision blurred and before long Harry had pulled his hanging around his bed closed and he was soon fast asleep.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry woke the next day with the same familiar squeamish feeling in his stomach. He knew the Quidditch Match was today and he hoped that Ron's argument with Cassie the night before wasn't going to affect his playing skills. Harry got dressed quickly noticing that most of his roommates had already opted to go down to breakfast without him. He walked over to the window that over looked the grounds and he saw that the sun was shining. It seemed to be a rather warm day for January and Harry was glad it wasn't cold or rainy. He was almost positive that it would dampen Ron's spirits even more.  
  
Harry walked down to the Great Hall to see that Ron was spooning his eggs silently, his lips pursed together in grim thought. Hermione was resting her head in her hands, reading an enormous book while she sipped on her hot chocolate. Harry sat down between them and Hermione looked up fast enough to acknowledge him before she absorbed her attention into her book. Ron looked up and nodded curtly at Harry before he went back to spooning his eggs grumbling about something under his breath.  
  
It was a while later before Katie called the team to the locker room and Harry happily obliged. He was tired of the awkward silences between the three of them. Hermione was upset with Harry because he wouldn't mend things with Cassie and Ron was mad at Cassie now and probably also mad at Hermione for trying to make things right between the four of them. Harry shook his head remembering the good old days of his first years where he didn't have to worry about the whole social drama. He just had Ron and Hermione, not a whole bunch of other people to maintain good friendships with. He sighed loudly and followed Ron as they walked towards the pitch. Harry could see a figure shoveling snow and ice off the stadium seats and Harry could see long hair falling into the figure's face. He instantly recognized the shadow as Cassie and he disregarded her immediately as they walked into the locker room to get ready.  
  
As Harry got dressed, he noticed that Neville seemed really worried about playing. All the other games he had Cassie there to help him and to sometimes cover up his mistakes. Now that the girl was banned, Seamus had to take care of her duties. Harry could tell that his fellow sixth year was a bit nervous about his first game but when Harry gave him a comforting smile he saw the boy relax. Katie finally got them together to go over some last minute strategies before the group grabbed their brooms and headed off for the pitch.  
  
"Welcome to the first Quidditch Game of the new Year!" a little voice piped out across the stands. Harry looked up and saw Colin Creevy sitting next to Professor McGonagall. Since Cassie had passed up her opportunity as an announcer, the duty was handed down to Colin Creevy who had screamed and carried on in the common room a few nights earlier. He could hear the screaming support from the Gryffindor Quidditch fans as the team made their way out onto the field. Harry noticed that the Ravenclaw team had already positioned themselves in the center of the pitch and Harry saw Cho Chang standing next to that year's Quidditch captain. He saw the seventh year girl look over in his direction and she gave Harry a beaming smile. Harry returned her smile but he didn't get the flip flop feeling in his stomach anymore when he thought or looked at Cho. It looked like the girl was finally getting over her deceased boyfriend, Cedric Diggory who had died two years ago in the hands of Voldemort. She was hanging on the Quidditch captain's arm, beaming up at him. Harry shook his head and knew it was all for the best.  
  
Madame Hooch came out onto the field and blew her whistle, signaling that the teams mount their brooms. Harry mounted his Firebolt, and a wave of sadness passed over him. Sirius had given him this broom for Christmas three years ago. Was it really three years ago? Harry thought to himself as he kicked off from the ground. It seemed like only yesterday Harry was opening up the plainly wrapped package that contained his beloved broomstick with Ron on Christmas morning. Harry sighed heavily as Madame Hooch released the bludgers and the snitch. He heard her whistle shrill loudly as the Quaffle was released, signaling the beginning of the game.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"That was the worst bit of playing I have ever seen in my life!" Katie shrieked to Harry and the team as they trudged heavily back into the locker room, long expressions on their faces. "Neville? Where were you when that Bludger was going after Ginny? It almost took her head off!" Harry looked over at Neville, who was red in the face. "Seamus, don't be afraid of the Bludger, just hit it!" Katie said rounding over to Seamus who looked very upset.  
  
"Katie would you relax? It's no use screaming at us! It was our first game with an almost entirely new team. We just need to practice more!" Ginny said. She had a large gash on her cheek and her braided red hair was in disarray. Harry shook his head sadly. It was their worst defeat ever. Even though he had caught the snitch at the end of the game, Ravenclaw had slaughtered Gryffindor 280 to 160. He could still hear the Slytherins jeering at them from the stands as they dismounted their brooms, spirits low. Ron's ears were the reddest Harry had ever seen them and Neville looked like he was about to cry at any given moment.  
  
He heard Katie give a wistful sigh before she threw her hands up in defeat. "Everyone hit the showers. I'll let you all know when we're going to practice again," she explained before she threw her arm guards into her locker, stalking off towards the girl's showers.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Harry, Ron and the rest of the Quidditch team skipped dinner in order to avoid humiliation from the Slytherins and opted for the peace and quiet of their common rooms. Harry noticed that Cassie was sitting in a corner doing her potions homework a determined look on her face. Harry hadn't even started his potions essay and quite frankly, he wasn't in the mood to do anything but sulk. With their loss against Ravenclaw, it put Gryffindor in third place for the cup. If Hufflepuff beat Slytherin, which was highly unlikely, it would push Gryffindor up to second place and a spot to contend for the cup.  
  
Harry looked over at Ron and saw that he was in an even worse mood than the night before. On top of his fight with Cassie and the loss of the Quidditch match, Ron's morale took a turn for the worse. He would snap at anyone who tried to talk to him and he would throw threatening glances to innocent first years who gave him fearful looks before scampering off to the opposite side of the common room.  
  
Hermione skived off dinner as well and tried to boost Harry and Ron's self esteem but she was fighting a losing battle. Harry didn't know if he was ever going to be happy again. His scar, which hadn't been bothering him lately, was starting to burn randomly and he kept having recurring dreams of Sirius falling behind the veil and every attempt Harry made to stop him, failed.  
  
"Come on you two, stop this! It's only a Quidditch game for heaven's sake!" Hermione said. Ron and Harry shot her looks as though she were mad and Hermione shrugged her shoulders, "There's no use getting worked up over it! Ron have you finished your potions essay yet?"  
  
Ron gave Hermione a hateful look and Harry heard Ron mutter something under his breath. "Well, if you want me to 'bugger off' Ronald Weasley then I guess I will! I was only trying to help!" Hermione said in a hurt voice. And to Harry's surprise, she walked right over to Cassie's table and sat down across from the girl, pulling out her potions essay as well.  
  
"Traitor," Harry heard Ron whisper before the red haired boy walked off towards the boys' dormitories. Harry waited a few minutes before he too sauntered for the dormitory, wishing the day had never happened.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The resulting days of January melted into February and Harry was glad for a new month to start. He was tired of classes and he was even more tired of hearing the Slytherins mocking the Quidditch team about their embarrassing loss. Ron's mood improved greatly at the beginning of the month. He was doing well in his classes and he even received'Acceptable' on his potions essay, much to Draco's dismay.  
  
About a week into February; the students were in the Great Hall, enjoying an early dinner. There was a teachers' council during their last class and Harry and his friends were ecstatic to be missing their potions lesson.  
  
Harry was helping himself to some treacle tart when he heard the unmistakable sound of flapping wings. Harry looked over at Ron who was stuffing his face with a steak and Ron gave him a confused look, "What are owls doing here this late at night?" Harry asked Ron and his friend gave a shrug as they watched hundreds of owls swoop into the Great Hall, all of them carrying black envelopes in their mouths.  
  
"Oh no," Harry heard Hermione whimper under her breath and he felt her hand grip his arm fearfully.  
  
"Hermione what's going on?" Harry asked as the owls flew over their owners, dropping their letters onto empty plates. Harry looked over at Ron and also saw a surprised look on his face. His face was as white as Nearly Headless Nick's and he saw that Ron had his finger's crossed as owls continuously flew into the Hall.  
  
A letter fell in front of the Creevy brothers and Harry saw that Justin Finch Fletchly had received a letter as well. He watched interested as they three boys and many other students opened up the letters carefully. He looked over at Hermione and saw her lower lip trembling as if she were about to cry.  
  
"Hermione? What. . .?" Harry began but he was cut off when he heard a mournful cry escape the lips of Hannah Abbott. He saw the Hufflepuff grasping a black letter and she let out another wail before she grabbed onto a person nearby, her sobs muffled by the other student's robes. One by one, cries erupted from the Great Hall. Harry noticed that most of the students who had received the letters were muggle born and they were hugging onto other students tightly.  
  
Harry saw the Creevy brothers grasp onto each other as they sank to the floor, tears running down their faces. Harry's world seemed to be moving in slow motion as Justin Finch Fletchly ran from the Great Hall hands covering his face. Even though Harry didn't know what was going on, he seethed with anger at the Slytherin table. The group had not received any letters and they were laughing at the students who were running from the Great Hall. He watched in horror as the Colin and Dennis Creevy got up from their position on the floor and hurried from the Great Hall, Draco laughing maliciously. Did he know what was going on?  
  
A flash of black made Harry turn, hoping he hadn't received one of the letters. It was only Cassie, who had made a wild grab for a black letter that lay open on the table. Colin had left it behind. She sat back in her seat and read the letter silently. Her eyes growing wide and Harry could almost see a tear forming in her eye but the girl shook her head quickly and dropped the letter a shattering sigh escaping her lips.  
  
It seemed like Hermione could take no more. With a choked sob, Hermione got up from her seat and fled. Harry heard Draco laugh loudly. "Hope that filthy Mudblood got what she deserved," he heard Draco say and Harry fumed with anger. He turned around and saw Cassie get up from her seat, following Hermione calmly. Harry heard Draco cease his laughing and he noticed that Cassie had dumped some pudding on his head before she muttered something in his ear.  
  
"Harry, look at this," Ron said with a sad shake of his head. Harry turned around and saw that Ron had taken hold of the letter and he was looking at it with terror. With trembling hands, Harry grabbed the letter and began to read it softly.  
  
Dear Messers Colin and Dennis Creevy,  
We regret to inform you of the death of you parents, Bill and Lauren Creevy on the night of February 4, 1997 at seven o' clock this evening. Their deaths were the result of a mass attack on the parents of muggle born children. We have several suspects in the case, most of them being servants to the Dark Lord. We ask you kindly if you could make a trip down to our Department at the Ministry of Magic tomorrow, February 5, 1997 at eleven thirty in the morning. You are required to sign the Certificate of Death and other documents as well. You can also visit our Mortuary Witch who will gladly help you prepare the funeral of your deceased relatives.  
  
Please accept our Condolences,  
  
Kira Desdemona  
  
Chair of the Births and Deaths Department  
Ministry of Magic  
London, England  
  
Harry looked at the letter in shock. A mass attack on muggle borns' parents? Was it even possible? He looked over at Ron and he shook his head sadly. There was an empty pit in Harry's stomach as he looked at all of the students, some of whom he knew. They were all like him now. They were all orphans. Where would they go to now that they had no parents? Did some of them have other relatives or were they killed as well? He knew why Hermione's parents were spared; they were in safe hands with the Order. He couldn't fathom what Hermione was feeling at that moment. Guilt? Sadness? Not knowing, Harry started to get up from his seat but the clearing of a throat silenced the entire hall.  
  
Harry sat back down as Professor Dumbledore stood up, a pale and grim expression on his face. The remaining students became quiet; the only sound the quiet snuffling from shell shocked students.  
  
"Let me give my extreme condolences and sympathy to all students who have received losses tonight. Your parents and siblings were good people and they were courageous until the end. I am arranging a trip to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow morning for those students who have duties to attend to. You will all be in safe hands and classes will be cancelled until all has been taken care of. Counseling will also be available to students who have lost parents and to those that have not suffered losses tonight. I ask that everyone please go back to their common rooms, I'll ask prefects and our Head Boy and Girl to lead the way. Again, please accept my, and the faculty's condolences. You're dismissed," Dumbledore said in a shaky yet reassuring voice.  
  
The clamoring of students began and Harry could hear the buzzing of whispers as the students headed off for bed. Ron walked closely beside him muttering things under his breath. Did the Order know about these attacks? Harry thought to himself as two Gryffindor first years looked around the castle, eyes big with fear. Harry shook his head. He didn't want to think about death or destruction anymore even though it was suffocating him and becoming a larger threat with each passing day. He could only think of how far Voldemort and his minions would go to rid the wizarding world of muggle borns and how he would get control of the Black Diamond, something that had been haunting Harry's dreams lately.  
  
Harry and Ron reached the Gryffindor common room and they were met with a distressed Hermione and a quiet, reserved Cassie. Hermione had thrown her arms around Cassie and was now crying on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay Hermione, don't feel upset, you need to be there for the other kids," Harry heard Cassie whisper as she patted the girl on her head.  
  
"But I feel so guilty! All of their parents are dead and mine got away without a scratch because I'm in the know with the Order!" Hermione wailed.  
  
"Hermione! Keep your voice down! You have no idea who and who isn't listening. And you should consider yourself lucky Hermione that your parents are safe and sound in a well protected environment. Think of how you'd feel if your parents died." Cassie explained as Hermione finally loosened her grip on the girl.  
  
"I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just being silly, but I can't help it. Just knowing that they could have died tonight. . ." Hermione's voice wandered off as she gave a choke before she straightened her robes and sat up straight. "I think I'll go to bed," Hermione announced to no one as she stood up and headed off for the dormitory leaving Harry and an equally confused Ron behind. Cassie sitting on the couch, a clutched letter in her hands.  
  
"What's that?" Ron asked forgetting that he was still having a silent war with the girl. Cassie looked up and Harry saw that she was on the verge of tears. She saw Ron pointing to the letter and she pulled it to her chest, protecting it from view.  
  
"None of your business! Just leave me alone!" Cassie shot back before she got up and followed Hermione to the girl's dormitory grumbling under her breath. 


	18. Valentine's Ball

18. The Valentine Ball  
  
He was falling. He was falling and there was nothing he could do about it. Harry was restrained as he fought to reach his godfather. He watched as Sirius' back arched gracefully as he headed for the arch. Harry was pulling against his restraints, feeling them burn into his wrists. Harry could feel his voice go hoarse from screaming and he wondered if he was really making such an inhuman howl. "Sirius! Sirius no!" he heard himself yell out hoarsely as the black, ratty veil blew back and forth in an invisible wind. Harry looked around and saw Bellatrix hurry off into another chamber, but Harry didn't care, he was free of his restraints and he was running towards his godfather, his cries coming out in ragged breaths.  
  
Harry was surprised to see that Sirius had not gone through the veil but he was lying peacefully on the ground by the blowing veil. Harry could hear the whispers coming from behind the veil and Harry wanted to reach through and grab those voices. He wanted to silence them for good.  
  
"Harry!" a voice called out and the young boy looked down and saw his godfather staring up at him through dull, lifeless eyes. "Harry!" Sirius gasped out again as he clutched his chest panting slightly.  
  
"Sirius! Sirius, Dumbledore is here and you're going to be alright. Just hang on a little while longer! Please Sirius!" Harry begged grabbing onto the faded folds of the man's robes.  
  
"Keep it secret Harry, keep it secret," the man whispered out and he gave Harry a weak smile before he closed his eyes, his head tilting lifelessly to the side. He was gone.  
  
Harry woke up quickly, clutching his covers to his chest. He looked around to gather his bearings and he saw that he was in his bed. In his bed at Hogwarts. Sirius was nowhere to be found. Sirius had died almost a year ago.  
  
Harry reached for his glasses and put them on, his world becoming clear and vibrant. Did he really just dream Sirius talking to him? Or was that just some sort of wishful thinking? Harry had had that dream hundreds of times before and not once had his departed godfather ever spoken a word to him. It played out exactly how it happened; Lupin was holding him back as he watched Sirius fall through the veil, Bellatrix screaming in triumph while she watched her cousin's demise. Harry seethed with anger when he thought of Bellatrix. He tried to shake his feelings about the Death Eater off but the slow boiling hate remained in the pit of his stomach.  
  
Thankful that it was Saturday, Harry didn't bother to put on his clothes. He saw that his roommates had already left and he tried to flatten his hair down before he headed downstairs. Knowing he was fighting a losing battle when it came to his hair, Harry gave up and walked downstairs and into the common room, finding it almost entirely empty.  
  
Hermione was sitting on one of the couches with Ron, Neville, and Cassie all of them looking extremely morose. Harry saw that both Hermione and Cassie's eyes were red as if they had been crying. And then Harry remembered the happenings of the night before. Half the common room was empty because the students had to go to London to sign their parents' death certificates. There was no telling how many students lost their entire families the night before and Harry could feel a bit of guilt rising in his stomach.  
  
"I can't believe this happened," Harry heard Neville say as the boy sat next to Cassie, wringing his hands together in his lap. Ron was looking into the fire a morose look on his face and Hermione was casting looks at Cassie as if only the two of them knew something.  
  
"G'morning Harry," Ron said looking up at his friend. Harry gave a half hearted wave at his friends before he took a seat next to Hermione who gave him a brave smile before she threw Cassie a reproving look. Harry saw Cassie roll her eyes before she picked up a book on Ancient Wizarding Family Heirlooms and read it with a great deal of interest.  
  
"Is everyone else. . . you know. .. gone?" Harry asked Ron and his heart fell when he nodded solemnly.  
  
"They left around five o' clock this morning. Took the Hogwarts Deluxe Express to King's Cross. Half the school's gone, aside from the Slytherins," Ron added darkly. Harry heard Neville give a small snort and Cassie lifted her eyebrows in agreement as she turned a heavily written on page in her book.  
  
"Are we having classes on Monday?" Harry asked Hermione shook her head sadly.  
  
"McGonagall posted a notice this morning," she announced, "It said that classes would not resume until all the students who lost family members could arrange a proper burial. So there's no telling when classes will start again."  
  
"What are we going to do until then?" Harry asked as he looked into the fire with Ron.  
  
"I don't know. I expect the funerals to be quick. They'll probably be completed by this upcoming Friday. I heard the Colin Creevy saying that he and his brother would have a short ceremony this afternoon. I can't believe this is happening," Hermione said her voice becoming strangely high pitched. It seemed like she was going to start sobbing at any moment.  
  
"Hermione, do you want to take a walk?" Harry heard Cassie ask in a sympathetic voice. Hermione bit her lip and nodded her head, her bushy hair staying in place. He saw Cassie offer the girl a smile and Cassie put her book on her seat walking over to take Hermione by the arm. "We'll have a little talk about things, excuse us," Cassie said to the three boys before she and Hermione started for the portrait.  
  
"Was it just me, or was Cassie actually civil to us for a change?" Ron asked as he grabbed his steaming mug of coffee. It looked like they would be eating breakfast in their common room today judging by the small feast the house elves laid out that morning. With an audible sigh, Harry got to his feet and walked over to the cart, picking out some eggs and pancakes, not eager for the day to start.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Later that day, Harry, Hermione and Ron decided to pay a visit to Hagrid. Their homework load had been forced on them by the truckload and now with classes cancelled until further notice, they had gotten most of their mountainous homework completed.  
  
Clothed in cloaks and their Gryffindor scarves and gloves, the three walked through the quiet snow covered grounds heading for the warm hut in the distance. Harry noticed that Hagrid was home. Smoke was curling up from the chimney and Harry could see a large, bulky mass out in the back garden, chopping up firewood.  
  
Harry walked towards the white fenced backyard and leaned against the fence, watching as Hagrid split a three foot wide tree truck with a single blow of his ax. "Hullo Hagrid," Harry said sadly and the great man looked up, snow and chips of wood stuck in his beard.  
  
"Hallo Harry, Ron, H'mione," Hagrid said gruffly as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "It's been a while since you've visited me. Been busy lately?"  
  
"Yeah, really busy. What with everything happening. . ."  
  
"I know, I know. I was in a right state the o'ther night. All them poor kids. . . orphans now. No wheres to go now 'cept for an orphanage. And I know how those places are, no good some o' them. But what are we doin' out here fer? C'mon in and I'll fix up a spot of tea. And maybe I'll make sum o' those scones Harry and Ron are so fond of," Hagrid said with a smile. Harry gave Ron a glance and he saw his friend gulp loudly. Neither of them, Hermione included, were extremely fond of Hagrid's cooking. Last time they ate scones at his house, Ron had thrown one at Harry's head as a joke. The scone went sailing past Harry's head and smacked into the wall, leaving a dent. Thankfully, Hagrid had his back turned then and they had never heard him mention the abrasion in his wall.  
  
After positioning themselves around the fire, and after Hagrid made their tea and scones, the four of them sat down for conversation. "Do you know when classes will start again Hagrid?" Hermione asked as she politely took a sip of his English tea. She made a sour face but smiled through it and Hagrid beamed.  
  
"I'm as much in tha dark as you are Hermione. Dumbledore's keeping all this quiet. It's a great tragedy to the school n' all. Almost six hundred students lost a parent or two parents last night. . ." Hagrid began. Harry's mouth dropped open and Hermione gave a little squeak of surprise. Ron was looking out the window, not wanting to hear the conversation. Harry didn't blame him. "I know. . . if each o' those kids had a pair of parents, there'd be over a thousand dead. You-Know-Who has never done sommat like that before. Not even when he had the power he 'ad before you stopped him 'Arry."  
  
Harry felt his face grow hot and he looked down at his brownish- yellow tea making a half disgusted half pleased face. "But there must have been a warning!" Hermione explained and Harry could see that her eyes were tearing up.  
  
"Nope. No warning, none whatsoever. The Order had no idea this was going to happen, not even Snape found out the information until all those letters showed up. Sommat tells me that You-Know-Who had a lot of inside people pullin' this job."  
  
"I thought Snape was in the inside circle," Ron exclaimed joining on the conversation.  
  
"He is, but I think, and Dumbledore and the staff thinks it too, that the Dark Lord won't include Snape because of his ties with Dumbledore. He doesn't trust Snape enough to bring him in on all the top secret plans. But there was no warning that those attacks were gonna happen. Nothin'. The Ministry's having a field day trying to explain these attacks and they have no explanation. The wizarding world is going to be in a panic. And its all because of that ruddy. . ."  
  
Knowing that Hagrid was going to reveal something important, Harry leaned forward earnestly, hoping that Hagrid wouldn't catch himself. The professor was starting to form the next word when, to Harry's dismay, he caught his mistake. The man straightened up in his seat and cleared his throat looking around innocently. "Hagrid you can tell us," Ron said in an exasperated voice. Hagrid shook his enormous head and made a motion as if to zip his mouth shut.  
  
"That's Order business that I'm not allowed to reveal," he said shaking his head, as if he couldn't believe he almost told them, "You're all far too young."  
  
"We've done loads more than some of the people in the Order have done!" Ron said suddenly outraged. "So Cassie gets to know about everything in the Order and we don't? We're the same age! We're all students!"  
  
"Don't yeh understand? Cassie's in the Order too! She's the mission!" Hagrid's eyes widened and he clapped his hands over his mouth looking horrified. "Dumbledore'll kill me." He whispered.  
  
"What do you mean she's 'the mission' Hagrid? What mission?" Ron asked standing up in his chair.  
  
"I won't say anything more! You three go back up to the castle and stay there! Yeh shouldn't even be down here! Dark times are here and you three are running around like yeh own the place! Go on! Hurry up! And I don't want any of yeh talkin' bout the Order or anything! Understand?" Hagrid said all this quickly as he grabbed their tea cups and plates, throwing them into his sink, some of the plates shattering. He gathered the three of them between his arms, like a mother hen pushing her chicks to the coop. He opened the door in one sweeping motion and pushed them gently outside, shutting the door behind them.  
  
Ron was in a sort of stupor for the rest of the weekend. He would shoot Cassie looks at lunch and dinner but the girl dismissed it thinking Ron was holding a grudge about their fight. Hermione was also quiet and reserved for the rest of the weekend and she and Cassie would disappear after breakfast and dinner to continue their talks.  
  
On Monday, the muggle born students began to shuffle back to school. Most of them looked dead tired and Harry could feel deep sympathy erupt in his stomach every time he passed one of them crying in the halls. The first dinner back in the Great Hall was a sordid affair. Dumbledore donned black robes of mourning rather than his usual purple robe with golden moons and stars. The Creevy brothers were sitting to some of the other Gryffindor students who had lost parents including Seamus and Dean. Both looked at an extreme loss for words and Harry saw that they could only pat each other on the shoulder and offer their words of sympathy before tearing up themselves.  
  
Dinner had just finished and Dumbledore stood up from his seat, raising his hand to silence the already still hall. "First, let me offer my deepest sympathies to all the students who have lost a loved one. My condolences to you and your family members. I would like to remind everyone that counseling is open to all students who wish to talk with a highly trained psychologist wizard or witch. Please see Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick if you would like to schedule an appointment," Dumbledore said humbly. The hall began to murmur slightly and Dumbledore held out his hands again, McGonagall clearing her voice shrilly.  
  
"I have talked to the teachers, and we have agreed to have an event to boost the esteem of our student body. Next weekend we will be having a ball in celebration of St. Valentine's Day. All years are invited to this affair and there will be music, dancing and food for everyone. The Head Boy and Girl as well as the prefects for each of the houses will meet Professor McGonagall after dinner has been finished."  
  
Harry finished up his dinner and he said his goodbyes to Ron and Hermione as they headed up the Head Table to discuss the ball with Professor McGonagall. Harry decided to wait around in the foyer for Ron and Hermione so he could hear about the ball. He was glad he didn't have to have a date for the ball like he did two years ago. Of course, going with Parvati wasn't horrible but he would have much rather gone with Cho that year. But now, Harry was glad he could just fly solo for the year. Harry glanced at his watch and realized that Hermione and Ron were taking more time than he expected. Harry shrugged as he set out for the Gryffindor Common Room but the approaching of footsteps made him stop and turn around.  
  
He saw Hermione running towards him, her face beet red as she skidded to a stop in front of him. Harry laughed under his breath before Hermione gave him a small smile before she looked down at her feet.  
  
"What's up Hermione?" Harry asked as he tried to catch his gaze.  
  
"Um. . .Harry? Will you go to the ball with me?" Hermione asked as she became interested in a speck of dust blowing across the foyer floor.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Will you go to the ball with me?" she asked looking up at him, her face a scarlet red.  
  
"I thought you would go with Ron this year. If I do recall you practically beat the living hell out of him two years ago because he was being a prat," Harry said remembering the scene in the common room after the Yule Ball.  
  
"This is different Harry. Professor McGonagall told us that all prefects needed a date."  
  
"Why didn't you go with Ron then? He's a prefect," Harry pointed out.  
  
"But we aren't allowed to go with another prefect. She told us that was protocol. So will you go with me?" she asked again looking slightly agitated.  
  
"Yeah, I'll go to the ball with you Hermione," Harry said with a smile. Hermione looked up her face showing a line of shock.  
  
"You will?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah, I mean we're friends right? It's not that big of a deal," Harry said with a smile before he patted Hermione on the shoulder.  
  
"Well, Ron blew the whole asking someone to the dance way out of proportion. The way he carried on it was like having all of your appendages amputated," Hermione explained as the two headed off for the Gryffindor Common Room.  
  
"Who is Ron asking?" Harry asked as they climbed up one of the staircases, skipping the third step from the bottom. It liked to burp up flaming wood chips if stepped on.  
  
"Cassie."  
  
"I thought Ron hated her! Why is he asking her?" Harry asked in shock, his mouth hanging open.  
  
"He didn't want to go with Lavender or Parvati and Cassie was his next choice. Hopefully she isn't going to freak out over the whole thing. Have you patched things up with Cassie or are you two still not speaking to each other?" Hermione asked. Harry looked away. Hermione had been bugging him to make up with Cassie for the past several weeks. The two had not carried out a decent conversation since before their fight at Grimmauld Place and the way things were going, the two weren't anywhere near discussing reconcilement.  
  
"Oh Harry! This has got to stop! It's almost been two months and its driving everyone crazy! Can't you just say you're sorry?" Hermione asked shaking her head sadly.  
  
"No. You heard what she said about Sirius. How can I let her get away with that?"  
  
"Harry, I think its time you let go. Sirius. . . well, Sirius is gone," Hermione pointed out softly hoping that Harry wouldn't explode.  
  
"I can't let go Hermione. It isn't that simple. When you've lost someone close to you, you just can't let go and carry on. But you've never lost anyone special so you don't really know what you're talking about."  
  
"Harry, Sirius was special to me too. We all loved him, but there are times when there's no more we can do. We just have to move on and not forget, but not dwell on it day in and day out. If you accept that he's gone the memories of the times you had with him isn't going to disappear. You'll still remember it. You have to accept it Harry, you have to," Hermione explained as they walked down the hall towards the Fat Lady.  
  
In a way Hermione was right. Harry could accept the fact that Sirius was dead and no matter what he did was going to bring him back from behind that veil. But he couldn't. It wasn't that simple. Nothing was simple in his life and he hated that. Harry shook his head and muttered the password underneath his breath. The Fat Lady swung open and Harry and Hermione were greeted with a warm, cheerful fire in the hearth most of the students sitting around reading or catching up on homework. Harry noticed that some of the muggle born students were sitting around the room with photo albums in their laps, tears running down their faces.  
  
But there were two glowing faces sitting on a couch by the fire. Harry looked over and saw, to his great surprise, that Ron and Cassie were sitting across from each other, cross legged on a couch talking adamantly about Quidditch and the World Cup held the pervious year and Ron's horrible time at the Yule Ball.  
  
"I had these disgusting maroon robes with lace on the hemming. The most hideous robes you've ever seen. I tried to defray my robes but most of the thread hung down. I almost didn't go. I was almost as pretty as my date." Ron said with a laugh.  
  
"Then your date must have been pretty ugly!" Cassie explained before the two erupted into hysterics. Harry saw Parvati nudge Lavender's shoulder in their direction and Harry knew that Padma's twin sister had heard Cassie's outburst. She gave a little 'humph' before she and Lavender walked up to the girls' dormitories.  
  
"Hello Ron, found a date yet?" Harry asked with a smile as he and Hermione took a seat opposite of the two smiling teenagers.  
  
"Yeah, I did. I'm going with Cassie this year. We'll cause a ruckus," Ron said with a wink in Cassie's direction. The girl rolled her eyes and threw her black hair behind her shoulders. "Find your date?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm no Viktor Krum but I guess I'll have to do," Harry said with a laugh and Hermione punched him in the shoulder.  
  
"This ball is going to be very interesting indeed," Ron said with a mischievous smile before he grabbed a canary crème and gave it to an unsuspecting first year. The boy smiled and thanked Ron before he took a bite. Ron and Cassie erupted into laughter as did Harry as the boy turned into an enormous canary, singing a most annoying song. Hermione looked scandalized and scolded Ron for not upholding his prefect duties. Ron just rolled his eyes and went back to talk about Puddlemere United's chance of getting into the World Cup finals.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The day before the ball, Harry was lounging with Ron on the Common Room couch both of them working on their Magical Creatures essay on dragons when Cassie walked into the common room a dark smile on her face.  
  
"Harry, I need to talk to you," she said simply as she looked over the couch he was sprawled out on. Ron threw him a knowing look and Harry sat up putting his parchment and book on the table by the couch. He saw Cassie motion for a private little corner in the common room and Harry shot her a confused look as she walked over and sat down on the window seat that overlooked the grounds.  
  
"What is it?" Harry asked curtly. The coldness was edging back into him and he hoped Cassie hadn't pulled him away to mock him or he would give her another black eye, just in time for the dance.  
  
"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said almost three months ago," Cassie said sullenly, looking down at her shoes. Harry stared at her in shock. Cassie apologizing? This was truly unlike the girl he met at the beginning of the year. Harry looked at her and then smirked. "Go on. . ."  
  
"I have to go on? With what? I said I was sorry," Cassie said in an offended voice. She looked at Harry's face before she sighed loudly, "Fine." She said throwing her hands up in defeat, "It was wrong of me to say that about Sirius. I was just in a bad mood that day and wasn't in the mood to play 'Twenty Questions' okay? You just kind of sent me over the edge and I lost it. That and I had not only Remus, Romulus, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, and George owling me and talking with me through the fire to make up with you but I had Hermione and Ron breathing down my neck. So you had it easy," Cassie said before she gave a little laugh, "We're still friends right?" She asked as she extended her hand.  
  
Harry looked down at it and noticed a sort of silvery star on the flap of skin between her thumb and her index finger. It wasn't large by any means but it was extremely bright and it shimmered when she moved around. Harry looked at it questioningly and he looked up and saw that Cassie was waiting for a reply. With a smile, Harry took her hand and shook it firmly. "Yeah Cassie, still friends."  
  
Harry and Ron were in their new dress robes lounging on the couch in front of the girls' dormitory. Harry glanced at his watch and saw that the dance would be starting at any moment. Why did girls take so long to get ready? He looked over at Ron and knew he was thinking the same thing. He was looking at the grandfather clock ever so often in the corner and he let out exasperated sighs. 'At least he has new robes this year,' Harry thought to himself. It would save the boy the humiliation at the dance. Ron's brothers had bought him brand new dress robes that actually fit their extremely tall little brother. His robes were a dark red with a golden trim, no lace in sight. Harry looked down at his own robes and smiled at the color. Mrs. Weasly bought him new robes after him and Ron owled them to tell them about the ball. She rose to the occasion magnificently and sent them their robes last night. She had sent Harry an emerald green colored robe that was trimmed in silver. His old one fell to his ankles and if Harry remembered correctly, the robes had to be floor length.  
  
There was a sudden rustling sound from the top of the dormitory stairs. Harry and Ron snapped to attention and stood up, waiting to see who was coming downstairs. Hermione was coming down first. It looked like she was wearing the same robes two years previous but these were different. They were sky blue, formfitting robes and there was a small sort of belt draped around her waist that fell down the front of her robes. There was a triangular section in the front of her robe was a lighter fabric that shimmered every which way she moved. Her brown hair was pulled up again in an elegant bun, small tendrils framing her face. The neckline was embroidered with shimmering little sequins and the sleeves were long, ending in a bell shaped cuff. She was smiling happily as she walked elegantly down the stairs and walked over to Harry.  
  
"Hey Hermione, you look nice," Harry said with a smile as she stood next to him.  
  
"Thank you Harry," she said a happy grin on her face, "You look nice too." There was a silence as the three of them stood and waited for Cassie to come down the steps. Harry heard a throat clearing at the top of the stairs and the three of them looked up. Harry saw Ron's mouth drop open and Hermione reached over and closed his mouth. Cassie bounded down the stairs in a most un-lady like fashion. Her blood red robes billowed around her feet as if she were flying down on a cloud. The hem was embroidered with golden fabric that shimmered like the golden sun. Her sleeves were form fitting and ended with a swooping bell cuff similar to Hermione's. Her black hair was slicked back into a tight bun with curled pieces framing her face.  
  
"Ready guys?" she asked her face bright as she walked up to them. Ron nodded and she smiled throwing her arm around his shoulder, "Let's kick it!"  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Did they invite Lockhart back to decorate this place or what?" Ron asked with a sneer as they walked into the Great Hall. Harry laughed under his breath and Hermione gave Ron a scandalized look.  
  
"Who's Lockhart?" Cassie asked Ron as she gazed around in disgust at the decorations. Ron gave a groan of annoyance and took Cassie off to a table to explain their old Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart.  
  
Harry looked around the Hall, Hermione close by. It was true; it looked like Lockhart had been released from St. Mungo's to decorate the Valentine's Ball. There was flying cupids flying around singing wizard love songs and the Great Hall was bathed in a pink light. Harry saw that Dumbledore had booked the Weird Sisters again and there were quite a bit of students out on the dance floor.  
  
"Would you like to dance Hermione?" Harry asked offering her a smile. Hermione nodded and the two headed out to the dance floor, the band striking up one of their hit songs. There was a collective chorus of students yelling out how much they loved the song and Hermione and Harry found they were pushed to the middle of the dance floor.  
  
The song ended and all of a sudden a big band swing song erupted in the room. Harry saw a few couples beginning to swing dance and he stood there stupidly in the middle of the floor with Hermione. He had no idea how to swing. Then, there was a sudden collective cheer coming from his left. Harry saw a large clearing in the middle, two figures dancing away. Harry grabbed Hermione's wrist and they walked over to the crowd as they cheered at the couple inside.  
  
Harry stood on the tips of his toes just in time to see a girl in a red dress fly into the air only to be caught by her dancing partner below. The crowd gasped and cheered. "Out of my way! Prefect coming through! Hogwarts Prefect!" Hermione ordered as she muscled her way through the crowd, Harry following behind her.  
  
The reached the beginning of the clearing and Hermione gasped out loud and grabbed Harry's arm, pointing in amazement. Cassie and Ron were in the middle of the clearing dancing away. Harry looked at them in disbelief; when did they learn how to swing dance? He watched as the two of them whirled around and around the clearing wondering if they would fall over from dizziness. The song ended quickly and the two of them hit their ending poses, the group around them clapping insanely.  
  
The group dispersed and Harry noticed Cassie point her wand at Ron's rapidly moving feet. "Finite Incantantum," she whispered. Ron gave her a thankful look as his feet stopped moving. "That was fun!" Cassie said with a laugh as they walked over to Harry and Hermione.  
  
"Did you not hear McGonagall Ron?" Hermione asked as the four of them walked towards their table, "Spells are not allowed at balls! You could get your badge taken away for that!"  
  
"But you have to admit Hermione we looked cool," Ron said with a boyish grin. Hermione threw up her hands in defeat just as another popular song came on. "Come on Hermione, lets go dance," Ron said before he grabbed her hand and yanked her out on the dance floor.  
  
Harry realized that he was alone with Cassie. He saw her look around the Hall, whistling softly. "Cassie," Harry began. She looked over at Harry and smiled at him, "Do you want to go dance?" he asked with a smile, holding out his hand.  
  
"Sure, why not?" Cassie said with a smile as she put her hand in his. The two of them walked to the edge of the dance floor and began to dance. A few songs later and there was no sign of Ron or Hermione. Harry had scanned the dance floor and saw that they were no where in sight. So he continued to dance with Cassie thinking how much better this ball was than the one two years ago.  
  
A flash of lightning forked across the ceiling of the Great Hall and the doors that lead to the foyer slammed open. Harry and all of the students looked up in alarm as a short, balding figure with a lime green bowler hat bounded into the Great Hall, a dozen or so wizards and witches flanking his sides.  
  
The lights in the Great Hall came up and Harry saw Dumbledore and the rest of the staff stand up from their seats. Harry watched in amazement as Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic walked straight up to him, the wizard guards moving next to him. He felt Cassie grip his arm, her fingers brandishing into his skin.  
  
"What is the meaning of this Cornelius? Bursting into my school in the middle of a school function, with an entire brigade of Hit Wizards no less?" Dumbledore asked calmly as he made his way down to the scene.  
  
"I am here Dumbledore," Fudge said as he hopped from one foot to the other in anticipation, "to make an arrest."  
  
"I am fully aware of all the antics of my students and not one of them, I believe, has done anything worthy to land themselves in Azkaban." Dumbledore said in a quiet voice.  
  
"I'm afraid, Dumbledore, that even you have been deceived," Fudge said with a high pitched weasel like laugh. Fudge suddenly lunged forward pointing his finger in Harry's direction.  
  
"Harry, what's going on?" a voice to his right said. Harry looked over quickly and saw that Ron and Hermione had appeared both of them looking extremely surprised.  
  
"You!" Fudge practically screamed and Harry felt Cassie stand up straight looking at Fudge defiantly.  
  
"What do you want with me?" Cassie asked calmly her stare icy cold.  
  
"You know perfectly well what I want with you girl! Don't try to deny anything!" Harry heard Cassie scoff behind him as she let go of his arm, walking forward into the middle of the dance floor.  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Cassie said spreading her arms out against her sides. Harry saw her reach into a small pocket in her robe. She was no doubt clutching her wand.  
  
"You are under arrest! There will be no questions! You are to be taken away quietly! Hand over your wand girl and I swear the Wizengamot will go easier on you!" Fudge snarled.  
  
"Really Fudge, if you are going to cart her off to Azkaban the least you can do is tell her why," Snape said icily. Harry's hatred for Snape was burning so strongly he wanted to go up and break his ugly hooked nose.  
  
Fudge ignored Snape's comment and Harry saw that he was shaking with rage, "Get over here before I have to use force girl!" Cassie didn't move from her spot and Harry watched as Fudge snapped his fingers, the Hit Wizards rushing towards Cassie.  
  
"Custos acclaro!" Fudge yelled loudly. Harry stood transfixed with horror as Cassie's beautiful robes disappeared only to be replaced by ugly, gray robes. Harry had seen those on only one other person. Sirius Black. So she was getting arrested, she was going to Azkaban.  
  
Hermione cried out as the Hit Wizards pushed them out of the way, all three of them falling to the floor. Fudge laughed loudly as all twelve of them brought a struggling Cassie in front of them. They forced the girl down to the ground and Harry saw that her hair was falling out of her bun, pieces falling in her face and becoming tangled.  
  
"Cornelius! You cannot do this! You can't come bursting into Hogwarts and arrest a student!" Dumbledore yelled out. Harry saw that the headmaster almost looked afraid about something. He watched as the old man looked over at Cassie. It seemed the two of them were having a silent conversation before Fudge moved in between them breaking their eye contact.  
  
"What the hell did I do?" Cassie bellowed as she jumped to her feet, the Hit Wizards tackled her to the ground and Harry heard her yell out in protest.  
  
"What did you do? You've been associating with Dark wizards!" Fudge yelled triumphantly.  
  
"What? I haven't been associating with Dark Wizards! What the hell are you talking about?" Cassie screamed out in bewilderment.  
  
"Bindaromus!" Fudge screamed. Harry watched as ropes flew out and bounded Cassie's hands and feet. She let out a frustrated scream as she fell to the ground once more, her head making contact with the floor. Harry heard Hermione give a small scream of terror as a wound opened up on Cassie's forehead. The Hit Wizards nor Cornelius Fudge did anything about this new wound. Fudge snapped his fingers and the Wizard Guards pulled Cassie off of the ground, blood flowing into her eyes.  
  
"You are under arrest by the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain," Fudge began as he walked towards Cassie a menacing glare on his face.  
  
"You can't do this to me! I haven't done anything wrong! Why the hell are you doing this?" Cassie screamed out.  
  
"For being in contact with you father." Cornelius continued as he stopped in front of Cassie bending down so he was eye level with her.  
  
"My father's dead! How the hell am I in contact with him!" Cassie yelled out. Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione his mouth opened. Remus Lupin was dead? What the hell was going on?  
  
"Your father is one of the most wanted dark wizards in the Ministry of Magic!" Fudge declared. Cassie looked at Fudge before she spat in his face. The entire Hall gave a collective gasp. Fudge looked at Cassie and in one fluid motion, brought his fist across her face. Cassie let out a yelp and Harry saw Dumbledore start forward, anger in his eyes. A few Hit Wizards walked in front of Dumbledore stopping him from going any further.  
  
"You're making a big mistake Fudge! You can't do this!" Cassie yelled out.  
  
"Silence you stupid girl! You are under arrest by Order of the Ministry for being in contact with your father, Sirius Black." 


End file.
